there's hope in the warmth of your eyes
by Smudgee
Summary: It's less than a week before he's half in love with her. After that, he starts to talk to her, really talk to her like he's not wearing sarcasm as a shield and anger as armor.
1. Chapter 1

Grabbing the phone left on the table, Betty pushes her way out of the diner door to jog after its owner.

"Hey!" she shouts, trying to get his attention.

He stops and turns to look at her, rolling his eyes and looking put out. "I thought I made it clear I'm not interested?"

 _Wow,_ she thinks, _that still hurts more than I thought it would._ Hopefully the fact that he's been a jerk to her helps ease the ache and hurt she's experiencing after putting herself out there and getting it thrown back in her face.

"Uh, yeah. You made that pretty clear but you forgot your phone," she tells him, stretching out her hand and offering his phone back to him.

Taking it from her, he offers her a smug grin. "Desperate enough to run after me just to give me my phone? Kind of sad."

She will not cry. Not in front of him and give him the satisfaction. "I'd do it for anyone."

Scoffing at her, he sticks his phone in his pocket. "Sure you would."

"I get it, okay? I do. You don't like me, that much was made clear, but I really just wanted to give you your phone, I know how expensive they are," she declares, proud that her voice barely shook as she was speaking. Walking back into the diner she makes it all the way to the bathroom before the first tear falls.

How did she get here? She can't even answer herself because she doesn't know. Thinking they were friends, having fun and hanging out, developing an all consuming crush, and finally, _finally_ plucking up the courage to try to ask him out.

Not that it mattered. She thinks it was the cruelty of it that throws her off balance because she doesn't know where it came from.

 _She smiles as she sees him and heads his way._

 _"Hey," she says, smile widening even through her nerves. "Whatcha doing?"_

 _He barely looks up and shrugs at her. "Reading. Obviously."_

 _Taken aback by his short tone she wonders if he's had a bad day. "You okay?"_

 _"I'm fine."_

 _His short answers are curt but she figures everyone has the right to an off day. Letting it roll off of her back, she works up all the courage she can muster. "So, I was thinking maybe we could-"_

 _"I don't think so, Princess," he interrupts, not even bothering to look up._

 _Her mouth snaps shut in shock before asking, "What?"_

 _"We turned our project in, right?"_

 _Confused, she nods at him as she says, "Yes."_

 _"Then what makes you think I want to hear your voice anymore?"_

 _Betty is reeling at that. She'd thought they had become friends, actual honest to goodness friends. "I don't understand-"_

 _"Of course you don't. Listen, thanks for the grade but we're done here," he tells her in a bored tone. "And no, I won't be going anywhere with you now or ever. The little crush you got? It's just sad."_

 _Betty just swallows and bites down on her lower lip at the first tremble as she stands up and makes her way to the Blue and Gold office where she can lock herself in and cry in peace. She doesn't think she's ever been so embarrassed or hurt in such a short amount of time before._

 _How did she read the situation so wrong? Never once did she think he was just using her._

Wiping the tears off her cheeks, she looks into the mirror and sees her eyes are puffy and red. _Great_. Splashing a little cold water on her face she gives herself a second to get composed before heading back behind the counter.

Grabbing the hot coffee carafe, she heads over to what seems to be Pop's most regular customer for the last few weeks while she had been filling in for a waitress on maternity leave.

"More?" she asks, pot of coffee in hand and ready to pour at his say so.

He slides his almost empty cup forward. "Sure." Tilting his head, he looks at her. "You know, that guy seems like a real jerk."

"He's been acting like one lately, yeah," she confirms with a shrug of her shoulders.

Catching her eye before she turns to go back behind the counter. "You're too nice, you know. He must be an idiot."

"Why's that?"

"I can't imagine that anyone worth knowing that wouldn't want to know you."

A small sad smile flits across her face. "You're sweet."

"It's the truth."

* * *

And that's how the friendship between her and the boy who made her smile when she felt so sad begins. They start eating lunch together with a combination of their friends, she invites him to study with her in the Blue and Gold office, and to even to join the newspaper if he wants.

Declining, he tells her writing isn't really his thing. Cajoling, making promises, and even a bribe of homemade cookies handed over with a bright smile had no effect. His amused laugh takes the feeling of failure out of her recruiting attempts to round out her staff to an even number. Which would, to be honest, take it from one to two.

His company, the friendship freely offered with no strings, helps her to forget the burn of humiliation every time she sees the boy who had used her with seemingly no remorse. She avoids meeting his eyes in class or the hallways, she tucks the pain of heartbreak behind a Cooper smile and lets the soothing feeling of someone genuinely enjoying her company take away the hurt she's pretending she doesn't still feel.

It's not even three weeks later when he asks her on a date. Surprised but a little intrigued she accepts with wide eyes and a nervous stomach. No one's ever really asked her out before, not since Trev Brown did their sophomore year and that ended up being only one dinner at Pop's. He didn't even go for a kiss goodnight and he never asked her out again so in true high school fashion they did the traditional thing and just pretended it never happened. Sometimes, she figures, some things are better ignored than explored.

Wearing a pretty pink dress with a soft sweater over her shoulders and her hair hanging in soft waves down her back he picks her up five minutes early. Telling her how beautiful she looks, he hands her flowers, charms her mother, and promises to have her home by curfew. Dinner, a movie, a walk hand in hand down the quiet streets of Riverdale and it's one of the better nights she's had in a long time.

Thanking him shyly by her front door as they're saying goodnight he takes her by surprise, leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to her lips before making sure she made it safely into the house after promising to talk to her the next day.

She hopes he means it. Hopes there's someone in the world who mean what they say and lets their actions act as their honesty.

It ends up being a pleasant surprise when she finds out that he _does_ mean it. They talk both Saturday and Sunday and come Monday at lunch he's making her blush and smile and she thinks that if she has someone willing to be seen with her, someone who wants to be her friend, wants to be _more_ , then maybe she can finally let go of all the lingering feelings that whose only purpose seems to be a reminder of her hurt feelings.

Ignoring the burning stare she suddenly feels as she turns to her lunch companion asking if he's going to be in the Blue and Gold later for studying after school as he reaches over to play with her fingers he smiles as he tells her yes, he'll be there.

"Just ignore him, Betty, he's just realizing what he let go," he insists suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere but she knows she must have caught stare she's been feeling since they sat down.

Smiling at his sweetness she replies, "That's sweet of you to say, but I think he made it more than clear what he thinks of me."

"I still think he's an idiot."

She sighs at him, not wanting to talk about the boy whose rejection is still a constant twinge at the edges of her heart. "Just ignore him, Jason," she tells him, repeating his own sentiment back to him. "Jughead Jones made his feelings well known."

* * *

 _ **Then**_

 _When they're paired up in English for an assignment he wonders if she's going to be as perky as she looks. She's far too polite as she moves to where he is, immediately giving her ideas for their project and can they meet at the library after school on Wednesday because every other day is bad for her but if he can't she'll see what she can move around to accommodate him._

 _It starts like that. He thinks she might be the most genuinely nice person he's ever met. When she asks him how he is, he learns she's actually interested. She truly cares how he feels._

 _It's less than a week before he's half in love with her. After that, he starts to talk to her, really talk to her like he's not wearing sarcasm as a shield and anger as armor._

 _The transition from Southside High hasn't been easy. Certainly not one that happens in junior year when everyone already has their groups of friends and no one is looking to change anything._

 _Unless, of course, you're Betty Cooper._

 _Introducing him to everyone she knows, showing no shame in who he is or where he's from, she acts proud to know him, like he's more than the part of town he comes from. Everyone is polite to him, no one calls him trash or tells him to go back to his side of the tracks. The consensus seems to be that if Betty Cooper likes you, you must be okay. It's unfortunate that that's not true in his case._

 _It takes him less than sixty days to fall in love and less than sixty seconds to destroy it._

* * *

 **Now**

He's had to watch Jason Blossom flirt with Betty for weeks now and it's left him in a constant state of agitation. The fact he knowingly and willingly did it to himself doesn't help the sick feeling in his gut each time she laughs or smiles at someone the way she used to do for him. Every time he remembers her face that day in the library, he hates himself a little bit more.

Jughead doesn't think he's ever seen that combination of confused, hurt, and shocked before. She's so trusting, with Betty always thinking the best of everyone until they give her a reason not to, and even then she wants to give them the benefit of the doubt. The expression on her face as he was saying the worst things he could think of still haunts him enough to keep him up at night when he can't pretend it didn't happen.

He hadn't been aware of how she felt about him past friendship until a tense and uncomfortable conversation with her best friend and apparent self appointed guard dog, Veronica Lodge. Standing there being threatened by a girl wearing heels and pearls while a manicured finger pokes him in the chest with a promise of retribution if he ever so much as makes ' _her Bettykins'_ frown wasn't something he had been expecting. Neither was the thrill that shot up his spine at the idea of _Betty Cooper_ being interested in him.

If Jughead were being honest he'd say he was still waiting for Veronica to get revenge but she hasn't so much as even glanced his way since he and Betty stopped talking. She must have not told anyone the truth of what happened is the only conclusion he can come to. Getting to know her the way he did he thinks she told them the absolute bare minimum, something vague that leaves him a good light while she acts like she's fine. The worst part is he knows it was partly for her, so they'd let it go and partly for him, so they'd leave him alone.

It's ironic, he thinks, that she did that to protect him because his version of protecting her ended up with a broken heart and tears when no could see.

He wonders if she's cried over him, too.

* * *

 _ **Then**_

 _The day they turn in their project is the day he decides he's going to ask out Betty Cooper. The weeks spent in her presence had reminded him what it's like to feel like there might be some good in the world. Especially when the world he lives in is shaded in blacks and grays and she came into his life like a burst of pure white, making everything around him a little brighter, a little cleaner, and a little clearer._

 _He's flirted with her at lunch, making her turn shades of pink he didn't even know he liked until it was on Betty's cheeks, lit up by the sweetly bright smile she sends him while offering him part of her lunch she knows she won't eat. He remembers the moment he knows he's no longer interested in thinking about how in love with her he is and when he knows he needs to act on it._

 _Sitting next to her, listening to her talk about a book he's never read, thinking he should read it, he should buy it and memorize it just so he can understand that piece of her, is like a lightning bolt hitting his stomach. The sudden terrifying fear that she'll never love him back. The even more terrifying possibility that she will. And the realization that he's not sure he'll be able to breathe until he knows one way or the other._

* * *

 **Now**

He's not following her. He's _not_. The fact that he happens to be three or so people behind her is a coincidence, a total chance of circumstance not at all engineered by careful planning and walking the opposite direction of where he needs to go. Jughead Jones doesn't follow people, he's simply still new and gets easily lost.

Three months is _hardly_ enough time to adjust to his new surroundings.

It's this lucky chance of circumstance that allows him to overhear the conversation between Betty and Cheryl Blossom, a girl he's almost certain whose humanity is at least partly made up of at least ten percent red lipstick and twenty percent of other people's tears.

"Halt, Little Cooper. Hmm, I guess I should say Youngest Cooper instead shouldn't I? You're certainly not the littlest," he hears Cheryl tell Betty, stopping her from walking forward with a pointed finger to her shoulder.

Jughead watches Betty stand a little straighter, pull her shoulders back, clench a fist behind her back and smile as she says, "Hello Cheryl."

Cheryl seems to be considering her, looking her up and down. "If you think that you can use my sweet JJ to get over your misguided infatuation with-"

"I'm not infatuated with Archie anymore, Cheryl," Betty quietly responds. "That was over years ago and your brother asked me out, by the way, I didn't-"

 _Archie Andrews? Really?_

"Oh I know that much, Jason told me. He also asked me to be nicer to you. So I think we should save ourselves a lot of trouble and you just...I don't know, shoo away from my brother before it has to get ugly."

Tilting her chin up, Betty is firm in her reply of, "Why do you care, Cheryl?"

Cheryl, crossing her arms and meeting his eye, smirks before looking back at Betty. "Because, Betty, my brother isn't an understudy. He's the starring role and I won't allow him to get hurt because your fragile ego needs stroking."

"I told you, I don't have feelings for Archie-"

"Oh, I know. I wasn't talking about Archie," she says, pointing past Betty to where he's standing. "I'm talking about him."

Betty spins around so quickly her ponytail whips around and hits her in the face. Making direct eye contact for the first time in weeks, he sees her eyes are wide and fearful while she's looking at him. There's a little part of him that dies at the knowledge she's probably afraid he'll embarrass her again.

"I'm not-" Betty stutters out, turning back to face the self-satisfied red head. "I don't-"

"I might be even be convinced to make an exception for you with the Vixens if you stop leading my poor JJ on," Cheryl interrupts.

"Jason is _nice_ to me, Cheryl. Why are you doing this?"

Jughead knows he shouldn't still be standing there but he's not even sure he's capable of leaving at this point. Hearing about how Jason Blossom of all people is the person who's currently being the nicest to Betty stings.

 _You made your bed,_ he tells himself.

Cheryl's voice pulls him out of his thoughts. "Truthfully? Because I can. And, let's be honest, Jason is too good for you."

He has to bite his tongue hard to keep himself from saying something truly nasty to Cheryl in Betty's defense. It's almost certain to make things worse for her if he steps in and he's already done enough damage.

Betty opens her mouth to respond but Cheryl is already walking away, hitting him with her shoulder as she passes him. "If you weren't such a disgrace to have walking these halls, I'd be almost impressed with how you took down sweet little Betty Cooper."

Looking over his shoulder, watching Cheryl's red hair swinging as she walks he wonders if he should be concerned that she cursed him when she touched him.

 _Note to self, look for signs of witchcraft later._

Betty's already started walking away by the time he looks for her again. Letting his head fall back and staring at the ceiling in the hallway for a moment he thinks about how it all came crashing down on him.

* * *

 _ **Then**_

 _Stomping through the door of the trailer he throws his bag down on the sofa, irritated with himself. He'd worked up the nerve all day to ask Betty out but when it came down to it, he choked. Telling himself that tomorrow is a new day, he flops down next to his bag, picking up his laptop, flipping it open and turning it on._

 _As it boots up he hears a knock at the door. Groaning to himself, he gets up and throws open the door with a gruff, "What?"_

 _Hearing the, "Aww, Baby Snake, is that any way to talk to your good friend Penny?" coming out of Penny Peabody's mouth makes his entire body freeze up in dread before he remembers himself and brings his anger with her to the surface._

 _"What do you want, Penny?" he asks in a hard tone._

 _She smiles at him, pushing herself past him and forward into the trailer, leaning against the counter as she smirks at him. "You owe me, Jones."_

 _"I don't owe you anything."_

 _"It's cute that your dad thinks sending you to a different school, keeping you out of your Serpents jacket, and taking away that motorcycle of yours is going to keep you off of my debts to be paid list, but alas, no such luck for the Serpent Prince," she says, her face a mask of poorly suppressed fury._

 _Trying to keep his breathing even he insists, "I don't owe you anything, Penny."_

 _"You can keep telling yourself that but until I'm the one who believes it, it doesn't really matter what you think, does it?"_

 _"I'm not doing anything for you. Never again. So, sorry to disappoint-"_

 _"Pissing me off, Jones, is a bad idea," she interrupts, crossing her arms as she glares at him._

 _He scoffs at her. "Tell me again because I forget but which one are you again? The Wicked Witch of the East- oh wait, that's the one the house landed on- so you must be the one from the West, then?"_

 _"I know you think you're funny but we'll see who's laughing when I'm done with you."_

 _"And what are you gonna do, Penny? If you come down on me, my dad is going to come down on you so why are you even here?"_

 _She stands up straight, walking closer to him, whispering in his ear, "I know you, Jones. Are you dumb enough to think I haven't been watching you?"_

 _The fear those words cause send shivers through him instantly and turns his blood cold. He can feel her walk past him to the door when he hears, "She sure is pretty, isn't she? That charming little blonde you're suddenly so interested in following around? It'd be a real shame if something happened to her."_

 _Jughead's stomach drops. Closing his eyes and swallowing back the nausea he simply asks, "What do you want?"_

* * *

 **Now**

He's been grudgingly allowed to ride his bike on weekends, since it's unlikely he's going to run into anyone he goes to school with while riding around the Southside. And, even if he did, he doubts anyone would know it's him, he doesn't wear his Serpent jacket or ride the bike to school. He's been good at staying out of trouble at Riverdale High so far and his dad wants him to keep it that way.

Trying not to kick the tire of the motorcycle that had slowed down and quit working altogether on the side of the road on a barely still warm Saturday morning he pulls his phone out to call someone for a ride when he hears a car stop behind him. Hoping it's not a cop, especially while he's wearing his Serpent jacket, he turns and jerks in surprise when he sees Betty Cooper standing there with shocked eyes next to her open car door.

Schooling her features, she steps past her door and quietly asks him, "Do you need any help?"

 _God I'm such an asshole,_ he thinks, looking at her carefully neutral face. He does need help but if he takes her help he's worried he's going to say or do something stupid and if he tells her no he's going to make himself look even worse in her eyes and he'll still be stranded anyway.

"Uhm," he mumbles before clearing his throat, "sure, I guess. I don't know what's wrong with it, though."

Nodding her head at him, she quickly walks past him, looking at the bike and messing with things he doesn't even know the name of, much less that they do.

 _Don't look at her ass, don't look at her ass,_ do not l _ook at her ass, you moron, it will make you an even worse person than you already are-oh my god, why is it always so perfect-ugh, I'm such an idiot._

He rips his eyes from her backside as she stands up to face him, scrunching her nose while wiping her hands on the legs of her overalls. _Fuck, she's wearing overalls. She's adorable,_ his inner idiot is screaming at him. _Oh great, you're a moron and you're using words like adorable. Fantastic._

"Your battery cable was loose and I don't think you were going fast enough for the stator, that's sort of like an alternator, to keep a charge going to the battery, making it cut out. You just need to tighten the cable and you should be good," she tells him, her eyes staring somewhere past his shoulder. "I have some tools in the car, I can do it for you really quick if you want."

Mouth hanging open slightly he just nods at her. _She's a total gearhead. Of fucking course she is, it's not enough she looks like some Grace Kelly lookalike wet dream on a daily basis, oh no, today she's also got to be wearing_ adorable f _ucking overalls and knows how to fix engines. Just shoot me now._

Telling him that he probably needs to keep tightening the cable or to replace it she heads back towards her car, saying she'll wait to make sure the bike starts back up, just in case.

Before putting his helmet back on and starting the bike up, he spins around, staring at her with quiet intensity. "Thank you, Betty."

She just bobs her head up and down while giving him a soft and sad smile before getting back into her car, waiting for him to leave first.

Revving the engine, he takes back off down the road toward Sunnyside and he thinks about two things; one is that he needs to deal with Penny Peabody once and for all.

The other is that he's going to get his girl back.

* * *

That she was never technically his girl is a detail he thinks he can work around.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Day One**_

 _Meeting Betty Cooper in the library wasn't on his list of things he was exactly looking forward to but as she rushed to the table he was at, apologizing for being less than a minute late as far as he could tell while pulling out a bag of what looked suspiciously like cookies he decides his day is already looking up._

 _"Here," she states, pushing the bag towards him. "I know I sort of locked you into coming here today so maybe chocolate chip cookies will make you resent me less." Smiling at him as he takes the bag and opens it she continues talking, "I was going to make peanut butter chocolate but then I thought what if you're allergic to nuts or something? I'd hate it if you thought I was trying to kill you. Don't worry though, I'm not. Not yet, anyway."_

 _He's not said a word throughout her entire explanation, just watching her as he chews on a cookie. A delicious one at that. If this is how she apologizes for things she has almost no control of he wonders what she does when something is her fault._

 _Staring at her as she's looking down at her English book, making an outline for a project he hasn't given much thought he thinks, not for the first time, that she's pretty. Really pretty. Noticing things on her he's never noticed on another girl he keeps taking in all of her features. There's something obvious in the beauty of her eyes or her hair, even the plush pink of her lips but he decides all of that is only accented by cheekbones he's suddenly dying to run his thumbs across._

 _"So," she says, startling him out his musings, "where should we start?"_

* * *

"Betty, can I talk to you for a minute?" Jughead asks, standing just inside the doorway of the Blue and Gold office.

Standing there with Jason, she's holding papers in her hand as her head snaps his way. Eyes narrowing slightly she gives him a curt nod. Setting the papers down on the desk next to her, she walks over to him, waiting for him to speak.

He's trying not to fidget because he wants to have this conversation privately and Jason is apparently trying to stare holes into the side of his face. "Can we talk in the hallway?"

She shrugs at him, looking back at Jason and holding up a finger to tell him she'll be back in a minute. He smiles at her but as soon as she turns and Jughead makes eye contact, Jason is glaring at him.

He doesn't want to be smug about that but he'll take what he can get. If Jason is threatened by him, that means he still has a shot. Following Betty out into the hall and closing the office door behind them, he prepares himself.

The apology he owes her, it's massive. He thinks he could say he's sorry every day for a year and still feel like he's never going to deserve her forgiveness. Taking a steadying breath, he takes her in; jeans and a sweater, ponytail, big green eyes, and the curve where her shoulder meets her neck that taunts him. He thinks he would give burgers up for a month for just the chance to touch it.

Betty is looking at him expectantly as he thinks about what he's going to start with.

"I just wanted to say-" Jughead swallows the sudden case of nerves that hits him. "I wanted to apologize."

"For what? For humiliating me? Using me? Making me feel about two inches tall? Making me think we were friends? Demolishing what was left of my self esteem in Pop's parking lot?" Betty questions him at a rapid fire pace while trying to discreetly wipe the tears away from her eyes.

His own eyes burning, he starts to reach out before pulling his hand back. "Yeah."

"Yeah, what?"

"All of it, everything," he tells her, staring down into her face. "Look, I know I have no right to ask but I'm asking for another chance. I'm so sorry, okay? You'll never know how much."

"A chance for what? You made it perfectly clear you just wanted the grade from our project, I don't see what else-"

"Betty, just let me try and make it up to you," he pleads with her. "I'll do whatever you want."

She suddenly has a calculating gaze pinning him down. "Anything?"

Jumping at the chance he agrees quickly. "Yeah, anything. You name it, I'll do it."

Spinning around she opens the door back up and walks back over to her desk, picking up a piece of paper before walking back over to him. "You, Jughead Jones, are my newest reporter. I want a full spread on the pros and cons of repainting the gym on my desk by Monday morning."

"Painting the gym?" he asks incredulously. "A full article on painting the gym?"

"Mmhmm," Betty hums out at him, looking down at the papers on her desk. "Is that a problem?"

He knows this a test and his only chance. "Not a problem. I'll have it on your desk by Monday morning, boss."

She glances up at him, her mouth set in a serious line. "After that, I have a riveting piece I need done on the new lunch menu in the cafeteria. And then, I think you should start covering the football games."

He has to give her credit, that was a direct hit. He knows she knows how much he dislikes sports. _Well played,_ _Betty Cooper_. Facing his fate like the man he likes to pretend he is, he gives her a smile and walks back out into the hallway feeling a little triumphant.

And if he turned at the last second to see Jason Blossom looking slightly unsettled, well, that's alright by him.

* * *

"Why didn't you ever join the paper before?" he hears as he's standing at the locker at the end of the day. "You had plenty of time and I'm pretty sure Betty asks everyone who crosses her path for more than five minutes."

Twisting his head to look over his shoulder he spots an irritated looking Jason Blossom. He shrugs as he turns his head back to the open locker. "She did ask, I didn't have the time then. I do now."

"Convenient."

Jughead smirks to himself before he slowly spins toward Jason, letting the smug smile fall of his face before responding. "I think the real question is why didn't you join when she asked? Come on, man, you obviously got something going with her so wouldn't you want to be on her good side before basically stalking her before getting her to go out with you?"

Glaring at him, Jason adjusts his stance to stand a little straighter. "This isn't about me, Jughead. We both know whatever you did to her, you messed her up for awhile. Do you really need to get off on doing it again?"

At those words, he's close to losing his temper. "You don't know anything about me. Or what happened between us." Suddenly relaxing his features he smiles as he closes his locker and swinging his bag over his shoulder. "And you certainly don't know what _might_ happen between Betty and I."

He's walking away from him when he hears him call out, "I mean it, Jones, don't mess with her or we're going to have a real problem."

* * *

"Betty!" he calls out, running after her across the parking lot.

Spinning around in surprise she stops for him to catch up with her. "Yes?"

Okay, so she's still doing the slightly chilly but polite thing. He can work with that. "I need to talk to you."

"About?"

Her one word answers aren't anything less than he deserves. He wonders if outright begging would be more effective now or as a last resort option. "I know you know I'm a Serpent now, I need to talk to you about it."

She furrows her eyebrows at him in confusion. "Is that what this apology thing is about? You're going to be nice to me so I don't tell everyone you're a Serpent?"

 _You didn't think about that, did you, you moron?_

Sighing at his own stupidity, his shoulders slump a little. "No. That's not it but it is part of what I need to talk to you about."

Betty is staring at him intently. He knows she's considering whether or not she should believe him.

"You have no reason to believe me, I know, but I need you to trust me-"

She snorts out at him in disbelief, amused at his audacity, he assumes.

"Yeah, I know. Look, we were friends before, weren't we?"

Her head falls as she looks at the ground. "I thought we were."

Wondering if he has the fortitude to punch himself in the face because, really, he has it coming at this point, he keeps trying. "Let me walk you home," he rushes out before losing his nerve. "I'll explain some stuff to you. _Please_ , Betty."

"You can't," she tells him and his heart drops. "But I can drive you home if you want, I have my mom's car today."

Finally he's getting somewhere and he feels something that feels like relief for the first time in a long time. Nodding at her, he begins to walk with her to the car.

Once they're both in and buckled, she asks where they're going. After a resigned breath he tells her to head to Sunnyside Trailer Park on the Southside. There isn't any judgment on her face as she turns the car in the right direction, leaving the Northside behind.

"Are you going to start talking?" she questions after a few moments of silence. "It's not like Riverdale is huge, Jughead. You're already running out of time."

Breathing in deeply he begins talking. "Betty, look, you have to believe me, I'm so sorry I said what I said, I swear. I didn't mean _any of it_ -"

"Then why say it?" she interrupts, steadily watching the road and not looking at him.

"There are things about my life you don't know about, okay? Like the Serpents and the fact that I live in a shitty trailer on the bad side of town," he tells her, his head falling back against the headrest.

"I don't care about those things, Jug, you should know that."

Jughead lets his head fall to the side so he can see her profile as she drives. "I do know that. The problem is that those things? They care about you. "

Wrinkling her nose in confusion she glances at him quickly before turning back to watching the road. "That doesn't make any sense."

"It will."

* * *

 _ **Five Days Until Riverdale High**_

 _"What were you thinking, Jughead?!" his dad yells at him, pacing in front of him sitting with his head in his hands on the sofa in their small living room._

 _"Dad, I-"_

 _"No, you got yourself involved with the Snake Charmer and for what? There's not a damn thing she could have offered that would justify you messing around with Penny Peabody!" FP interrupts, standing over him staring down at him in disappointment._

 _"I was trying to stop the war between the Serpents and Ghoulies before it started!" he shouts back. He didn't do it for a stupid reason, he knows it was a risk and it came back to bite him but he tried. Which is more than he can say for the other Serpents, including his dad._

 _"I swear, Jug, you are the most impulsive and dramatic kid I have ever met," FP tells him, shaking his head in disbelief. "Not every crusade is yours to fight, sometimes things are going to happen the way they happen. You're not always right, Jug. You are seventeen and next week I'm going to make sure you start acting like it."_

 _"What does that mean?"_

 _His dad stares at him hard. "We live on the school district line. Next week you start Riverdale High-"_

 _"What? No!" Jughead interrupts, yelling in protest._

 _"Yes. And you won't be causing trouble there either, Jughead. I mean it." Moving to sit down next to him, FP puts a hand on his shoulder to make him look him in the eye. "No Serpents jacket, no riding that bike of yours to school, you go there, do your work, and keep your head down. I refuse to worry about Ghoulies getting to you at Southside High, okay? Penny will be dealt with but you? You won't have any part of it. Consider yourself on probation from the Serpents until further notice."_

* * *

"So, you're telling me you tried to stop a war between rival Southside gangs by making a deal with some woman who's not known for her morals?" Betty asks him. "And you were surprised when she screwed you over?"

Raising an eyebrow at her he huffs out a laugh. "Yeah, I know."

Her hands are gripping the steering wheel hard. "And what, exactly, does this have to do with how you treated me?"

"Penny showed back up a few weeks ago to tell me I still owed her a favor. And when I told her no, that I didn't owe her anything, she threatened you," Jughead tells her quietly. "She'd had people watching me and they saw me with you."

Pulling into Sunnyside, he points her in the direction of his trailer. As she parks in front of it and turns the engine off she turns to look at him, her face serious. "What do I have to do with it? She's never even met me."

Unbuckling his seat belt and getting ready to get out of the car he can feel his face redden at what he's about to admit. "I'm in the Serpents, right? You know that much."

"Yes, but what does that have to do with-"

"Every snake has a soft underbelly, Betty. She figured out you were mine," he interrupts as he gets out of the car. Leaning down and resting his arm against the door to tell her goodbye he sees her biting her lip and looking like she was going to burst any second.

"What?" he asks, confused by her behavior.

Bursting out laughing she puts her forehead on the steering wheel as she tries to catch her breath. Waving a hand at him, she's trying to talk through her laughing. "That- that was the corniest thing I've ever heard, Jug."

He wants to be offended by her laughing at him when he really had just put his feelings out on the line but he can't because she looks so happy while she's laughing. He can't help but laugh at her laughing and the pressing weight on his shoulders feels lighter for the first time in weeks.

"You're a cruel woman, Cooper," he says when he finally calms down enough to talk.

Her giggles are dying off as she's wiping under her eyes where they watered. "I'm sorry, Jughead but that was so ridiculous."

Faking an angry glare at her he pretends to be offended. "And to think, I bared my soul to you and this is how you treat it? You mock me?"

"Oh yeah, I am going to mock the hell out of that."

Smiling, he just shakes his head at her. "Thanks for the ride, Betty. I'll see you tomorrow."

She gives him the soft smile he hasn't seen in weeks. "I'll see you tomorrow, Jug."

* * *

The next morning he's waiting for her at the door of the Blue and Gold before school starts with an extra coffee in his hand.

"You didn't have to do this, Jug," she tells him, taking the coffee with both hands, letting the cup warm her palms. Walking into the office and sitting down at her desk she swivels her chair to face him. "What's up?"

"I'm part of the paper now, right? So shouldn't I be here when you are?" he asks her, sitting on the edge of her desk. She gives him an unimpressed look and he smirks at her and moves to a chair at the desk adjacent to hers.

"If you want to be, sure."

He can hear the clicking of high heels on the hard floor and knows he's about to be either questioned or crucified by Veronica Lodge.

"B!" she exclaims, walking in and stopping short at the sight on him, coffee in her hand that was obviously intended for Betty, a large B written inside of a heart with black marker on the side now pointless as she stares at him. "When did this start back up?"

"Jughead is going to write for the Blue and Gold, V," Betty says with a smile. "Isn't that great?"

Veronica is eyeing him suspiciously. "Yeah, it sounds just _great_ , Betty-love."

As soon as Betty looks away, Veronica points at him and then at the door with a serious expression on her face. His eyes go wide and he sits up straight in his chair, setting the coffee in his hands on the desk in front of him and follows her out the door after telling Betty he would be right back.

Not even looking away from her task she just makes a sound of agreement and leaves him to his fate.

As soon as he steps through the doorway she's got him backing up against the wall. "What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

She purses her lips and narrows her eyes at him. "Look, I don't know what went down between you and Betty, Jughead Jones, but I know it wasn't good. You're incredibly lucky I couldn't get her to tell me anything because if she had, we'd probably be having this conversation with my foot on your throat."

Exhaling heavily, he leans against the wall. "I did something stupid and I need to fix it."

"This isn't just because Jason Blossom is sniffing around Betty, is it? I won't have her be some pawn in an ego driven game of whose dick is bigger."

Adjusting the hat on his head, he looks down at her with a guilt ridden face. "I care about her, Veronica."

She's watching him and seems to be studying his face. Her head pulls back in surprise. "You don't just like her. You _love_ her, don't you?"

 _What the ever loving fuck? Are all the scary girls in this school part of the supernatural?_

Tapping her nails onto the side of to-go coffee cup she's holding, a contemplative look on her face making him nervous before she says, "Alright, Jones, I'll help you but you're going to _earn_ your happy ending, are we clear?"

Standing up straighter, he takes a deep breath. "I'll do anything."

"Tell Betty I'll see her later," she orders him, handing him the coffee she was holding. "This was for my girl but apparently you're taking care of her coffee needs now. She likes it to be more-"

"Along the lines of coffee flavored sugar milk, I know," he finishes for her causing her to give him an almost impressed look.

"You're lucky I don't actually like Jason Blossom, you know that right?"

"That's the impression I'm getting, yes," he tells her, fidgeting with the coffee cup. "Why is that?"

"The thing about Jason Blossom? He likes Betty. _Adores_ her," she replies. "The issue is that the sweetness Betty sees? He doesn't extend it to anyone else."

Narrowing his eyes at that, Veronica smiles at him as she adjusts the bag on her arm and turns to leave.

"Exactly, Jughead Jones. I'll be seeing you."

* * *

He finds Betty again back in the Blue and Gold after school and he tries valiantly not to roll his eyes when he sees Jason sitting there next to her.

"Jug, hi," Betty says to him, digging around in a drawer at her desk. "Did you need something?"

Walking towards her, he throws a smile at a scowling Jason Blossom. "Yeah, actually. I'd like to talk to you about what points you want me to hit in the articles you assigned me."

"Oh," she breathes out, surprised. "Yeah, okay. Sure. When?"

"Anytime is good," he responds with a smile. "Consider me at your beck and call, Betty Cooper."

Her face brightening as she considers it she tells him, "I'll be done in a few minutes if you-"

"Pop's," he blurts out. "We should go to Pop's, I think I may die from hunger and you got me hooked during our assignment, they really are the best burgers in town."

"Alright," Betty answers, a little taken aback by his enthusiasm. "Just let me finish up here."

"No problem."

He takes a seat on the old sofa in the room and can feel the heat of Jason's stare. He knows essentially nothing about sports but he's heard the phrase 'the best defense is a good offense'. "Will you be joining us, Jason?"

Jughead is smiling at him while he's glaring back at him waiting for his answer when Betty speaks up first. "He can't, he promised Cheryl he would take her home after Vixen practice."

"Ah, that's too bad," he says in what he hopes is a convincing disappointed tone. "Next time?"

He can see Jason clench his jaw and try to school his features as he replies, "Yeah, sure. Next time."

Betty, shoving her things into her bag distractedly, stands up and starts to move to the door when Jason catches her hand to pull her back to him. He grins at her and she laughs a little as he presses a kiss to her knuckles and Jughead eyes harden as he stands up and looks at him over Betty's shoulder and tries to convince himself that he can't actually punch the smug smile off of Jason Blossom's face if he wants Betty to forgive him.

"Ready?" Betty asks, gesturing to the door.

Giving her an affectionate look, he reaches up to pull lightly on the end of her ponytail the way he used to, making her laugh. "For food? I was born ready."

* * *

 _ **Day Seven**_

 _The fact that he's heard of the phrase, 'he was fucked' when it comes to being gone on a girl but never thought it would apply to him is something he's trying to ignore as he sits across from Betty in an old fashioned vinyl booth while eating the best burger he's ever had. The two of them ignoring the books between them on the table as they laugh at whatever the other is saying._

 _"You did not," he interrupts her story mid-sentence in disbelief. "No way."_

 _"No, it's true, my mom was so mad at us for weeks."_

 _"How did the stove not catch on fire?"_

 _"Dunno," she shrugs, grabbing an fry and taking a bite before continuing. "But as it turns out, baking an actual mud pie only gets you in trouble and tastes nothing like pie."_

 _"How would you know what it tastes like, aside from, what? Hot mud?" he asks, making a face. "Gross."_

 _"I had Archie taste test it. For quality control, of course."_

 _"Of course," he agrees. "As one does."_

 _Lifting her eyebrow as her mouth starts to twist into a grin she throws a fry at him. "We were six! Weren't you only seven when you thought coloring your little sister green would turn her into the Hulk?"_

 _"That was a solid plan! Science based, even."_

 _Laughing at him she shakes her head. "What science was that?"_

 _Taking the strawberry off of her shake despite her sound of protest he bites into it. "Uh, the science of Jughead? Truly an unbiased and empirical science, I can't believe they're not teaching it at school to be honest."_

 _"You're absurd, you know that right?"_

 _Watching her smile at him as she pushes her plate towards him with the fries she's not going to eat he thinks he finally knows what that phrase means. Feeling it deep in his bones as he stares at the pretty girl across from him he knows it for sure._

 _He's fucked._

 **A/N: This fic is completely finished and I'll be putting it up probably a chapter a day but this will most likely be the last fic I put on this site, with the lack of feedback, it doesn't really make me want to deal with this site's frustrating uploading steps. But, if you dig it, don't worry, I'm not going to take anything back down when it's done. Happy Tuesday, y'all!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Day Twelve**_

 _"Hey man, leave him alone," Jughead says to Reggie Mantle as he's looming over Dilton Doiley, crowding him up against his locker._

 _Spinning around while holding Dilton in place with a hand on his shoulder Reggie smirks at him. "You gonna make me?"_

 _Rolling his eyes at him he opens his own locker to grab his books. "You do know that being an asshole doesn't actually make up for having a small dick, right? That's just genetics, Mantle. Which, if we think about your personality, sucks to be you I guess."_

 _Reggie slams the locker shut in front of Jughead. "What did you just say, Jones?"_

 _"He said that he's incredibly sorry that your inadequacies keep you in a constant state of anger with the need to take it out on people who, while definitely having a bigger brain, also probably have a bigger-"_

 _"Shut it, Cooper," Reggie says, cutting Betty off as she stands behind Jughead. "It's cute that you try and defend your new little Southside boy toy but-"_

 _"Oh Reggie, you do know I was there at the River in ninth grade, right? When Moose pantsed you? But I wouldn't worry, Reg, that special girl will accept you just the way you are," Betty says to him with a sweet smile, walking between the boys, grabbing Jughead's arm and tugging on Dilton's sweater with the other to get him moving._

 _"Dilton," she says, "are you okay?"_

 _Nodding at her, he adjusts his bag. "Thanks, Betty."_

 _Watching Dilton walk off down the hallway Jughead turns to look at her. "Remind me not to piss you off, Betty Cooper."_

 _"I have no patience for bullies, Jug."_

* * *

Jughead is walking past the cafeteria when he feels a hand land on his arm. Startled he looks down and sees Veronica holding onto his arm and leading him in a new direction. "What are you doing?"

"You want help? You're getting help, Jones," Veronica tells him simply. "We're going to lunch."

Jughead fights the urge to pull his arm out from under her hand. " _We're_ going to lunch?"

"Does that hat impede your hearing? Yes, _we're_ going to lunch. Now, listen to me, burger boy, Betty is probably the nicest person you'll ever meet so being a dick to Jason? Not gonna work. She's going to just keep thinking you're the asshole you pretended to be-"

"Did she tell you?"

"Yes, she did and so help me god, Jones, you are the luckiest son of a bitch I know right now," she says, her nails digging into his arm through the jacket he's wearing. "What were you thinking?"

"That keeping Betty safe was-"

"Has it occured to you that, perhaps, Betty might be able to handle herself?"

He slows down, lowering his head to whisper to her. "Ghoulies aren't your run of the mill scooby villains, okay? They're messed up and violent. I don't want Betty anywhere near that."

"I'm very aware, thank you," Veronica responds brusquely. "But you went about it in the dumbest way possible. It's like you threw every bad idea you've ever had at the wall to see what sticks before you picked up the very worst ones and then _lost your damn mind_."

Jughead huffs out a frustrated breath. "Yes, I am aware I messed up."

"Oh no, messing up is not replying fast enough when she asks you how she looks," Veronica informs him, pulling him again towards the tables outside. "What you did was only slightly better than, say, kissing another girl and then blaming her because she was sick and therefore it shouldn't matter."

"That is oddly specific."

Veronica tosses her hair over her shoulder and tightens her grip on him. "I don't want to talk about it."

Letting it go, Jughead sticks his hands in his pockets and stays quiet for the rest of their walk.

Getting nervous as they approach the table, he can see Archie and Kevin on one side with Betty and Jason on the other, everyone already eating.

"Look who I found!" Veronica exclaims, pushing him slightly to the open spot next to Betty as she sits down next to Archie. "He was just wandering like a lost puppy. I couldn't leave him to starve."

Rolling his eyes at her, he settles in next to Betty with a grin and nudging her knee with his under the table. Smiling back at him she asks, "Haven't you eaten yet?"

"Veronica ambushed me before I had the chance."

Looking concerned she bites her lip in thought for a moment before handing him the bigger half of her sandwich.

"You don't have to do that, Betty," he tells her. "I'll be fine."

"No, it's okay, you need to eat lunch and I still have half of mine," she insists, pushing it further into his hand.

"Betty-"

"Eat it, Jughead."

Giving in, he takes it and thanks her before taking a bite of it. As he's chewing he hears Jason trying to give Betty part of his food but she keeps politely telling him it's okay. Looking over he sees what's on Jason's lunch tray and before he can stop himself he cuts off Jason mid-sentence. "She hates mustard, man."

"What?" Jason asks, confused.

"Mustard," Jughead answers. "She hates the stuff."

Betty shrugs apologetically at Jason. "I do, it's weird and yellow and tastes like vinegar made a baby with evil and tainted our burgers and sandwiches with it forever."

"That's a strong stance on a condiment, Betty," Veronica interjects as Jason deflates and settles for picking at his own food.

"It's gross, V," Betty says. "Not even street signs are that offensively yellow."

As he's finishing his food Jughead looks up at the feeling of being watched. He can see Jason glaring at him over Betty's head so he does what he thinks is the best thing he'll do all day and gives him a sly wink and grin before returning his gaze to the people in front of him.

Catching Kevin's eye he smiles at him innocently as Kevin's eyes go back and forth between him and Jason before landing on Betty. An expression of realization crosses his face as he looks over at Veronica who gives him a slight nod without pausing her conversation with Betty and Archie.

"Don't you need Betty's opinion on the edits for your article, Jughead?" Veronica asks him, eyebrows arched to make her point.

Catching on immediately he nods, turning to Betty. "Yeah, I do. Can you look at it?"

"Sure," she says to him. "Now?"

"That'd be great. Thanks, Betty," he responds, getting up and grabbing her trash for her. Waiting for her to say goodbye to everyone he refuses to make any more eye contact with Jason.

As she walks next to him, he takes the bag out of her hand and carries it the whole way to the newspaper office. And if she gives him a sweet smile as her cheeks turn pink, he pretends not to notice.

* * *

"This Friday will be your first football game," Betty informs him Wednesday morning as he brings her another coffee before school. "I'll be there with you to show you what I expect but then you'll be on your own after that."

"Football games, really?" Jughead whines at her, throwing himself back into his chair, sliding until his shoulders are hunched close to his ears. "Betty-"

"If I recall, your exact words about this situation were 'I'll do anything'. So, Jughead, this? It's part of anything," she interrupts. Her amused expression belies her tone and he makes a dramatic sound with the biggest sigh he can manage.

"Also, have you gotten a handle on the cafeteria menu article for me?" she asks. Going through a pile of papers on her desk he takes a moment to watch her profile and he gets distracted by the soft slope of her neck that moves into her jawline when she looks up at him for an answer.

"What?"

"The cafeteria article? Have you got a good start on it?"

He groans at that. "Do you know they made me try some of the food? And you know how I feel about food, Betty. Food is magical but...is meatloaf supposed to be both dry and grossly wet at the same time? Is that possible?"

"Were your tastebuds offended, Jug?"

"Betty. I don't know what the meatloaf was made of but I'm almost certain it never came from a farm. There's your real story, 'Mystery Meatloaf, Is It Beef Or Straight Off The Racetrack?'" he announces to her with a disgusted face.

She's laughing at him as she throws a pencil at him. "Just make it work. And try not to insult the lunch staff, let's not push any of those ladies over the edge."

He's laughing with her as Jason Blossom walks in and his good mood drops as the smile on Betty's face turns towards him and tells him good morning.

"Hey, Betty, how are you?" Jason asks her, ignoring Jughead's presence.

Before Betty can answer Jughead interjects a cheery, "Morning, Jason!" in what he knows sounds false to everyone but Betty. Grinning at Jason, he asks, "So, do you want me to pick you up Friday, Betts?"

Scowling at Jughead, Jason turns to her with a strained smile. "Friday?"

"Yeah, Jughead and I are going to the football game together," Betty tells him.

He throws Jughead a dirty look before looking back at Betty. "If you're going to the football game, I can pick you up before I have to be in the locker room."

It's Jughead's turn to give him a dirty look when Betty just shrugs and says, "It's okay, we're going to the same place and I wouldn't want to make you late." Turning to look at Jughead she tells him, "But I can pick you up if you want, you only have your motorcycle, right?'

"Motorcycle?" Jason interjects, looking irritated.

"That's right," he states. "My motorcycle. And it's fine, Betty, I can pick you up."

"See?" Betty gestures to Jughead. "No need for you to go out of your way when you need to get ready to play the game. Thank you for the offer, though."

"Sure," he responds, looking at Jughead warily. "Let me walk you to class?"

Jughead can't wait for Friday as he watches Jason lead Betty out of the office and into the hallway as he throws a grin over his shoulder at him.

 _I really hate that guy,_ he thinks as he kicks the wheel of the chair he had been sitting in.

* * *

Thursday night sees him sitting in the Whyte Wyrm, texting back and forth with Betty for what started as something to do with the Blue and Gold and devolved into mostly nonsense.

"So, who's the girl, Jones?" Sweet Pea asks, pulling out a chair and sitting at the table next to him.

Putting his phone face down on the table he gives him a blank face. "What makes you think there's a girl?"

"You're looking at your phone like an idiot. I've only ever seen Fangs with that face so I took a guess."

Scoffing at him, Jughead leans back in his chair. "Don't worry about what I'm doing."

"You still on probation?" he asks him, leaning forward on the table with his elbows.

"Yeah," he answers as his phone vibrates. Trying not to be too eager to pick it up, he reaches for it and casually turns it over and hears a snort from Sweet Pea.

 _Can you give me a ride home after the game? I was supposed to get a ride with Veronica but she had something come up._

 _Thank god for Veronica Lodge,_ he tells himself with a smile as he replies that it's no problem.

"Looks like good news," he hears Sweet Pea say while he's still focusing on his phone.

"It is, man."

"Listen, Jones, things aren't any better, you know that," Sweet Pea says to him, leaning closer to him to keep the conversation private.

"I don't know what you want me to do, my dad put me on probation and I already tried to take care of it."

"Yeah, I know," he responds with a hard stare. "And what you did was stupid, trying to fix it all alone."

"I've been made aware, thanks," Jughead says sarcastically. "Very aware."

"Right, but here's the thing, Jones, I've been talking some others and I think we might have a plan, it won't work permanently but it might give us some breathing room until we can figure out a better option."

"What's the plan?"

* * *

He's trying to calm his nerves as he pulls up outside Betty's house on his motorcycle. It feels an awful lot like he's picking her up on a date and as much as he wishes that were true, it's not and he needs to keep reminding himself of that fact.

Taking a breathe before jogging up the stairs to her front he knocks with confidence he's pretending to have. When the door swings open and he meets the passive stare of Alice Cooper he swallows the lump in his throat and stands a little straight as he asks for Betty.

"She'll be down in a minute," she informs him. "And you, Forsythe, better get her there and back in one piece, is that clear?"

Before he thinks better of it he blurts out, "How do you know my name?"

"You think I don't know what FP Jones the second was going to name his son?" she asks him in what he thinks is a fairly belittling tone.

"You know my dad?"

"I did. Now, what does Betty call you again-"

Hearing the sound of shoes running down the stairs he sags just slightly in relief.

"Jughead, Mom. I already told you," Betty interrupts.

Alice twists her mouth at that. "Why Jughead?"

He starts to shrug at her when Betty tells her, "I never asked, I just assumed he had a very juggy head." Jughead thinks she's pleased with herself for that one. "Where do you think Juggie came from, Jug?"

"I had no idea how you came up with that, Betty," he replies easily, grinning at her enjoyment of messing with him. Ready to be long gone and alone with her as soon as possible, he starts to usher to the door reminding her they're going to be late if they don't leave soon.

With one final threat from Alice and an eye roll from Betty they head out the door and to the motorcycle sitting on the street.

Standing next to it she asks him, "Is your name really Forsythe?"

Cringing he groans and admits defeat. "Yeah."

"I kind of like it," she tells him simply, walking closer to the motorcycle getting ready to get on it.

"No one except my father likes it," he says disbelievingly. "And truthfully, I don't even think he likes it."

Lifting her shoulders at him as she's looking his bike over she replies, "Sure, it's a little odd, but I still like it. Archie's real name is Archibald if that makes you feel any better."

"Oddly enough, it sort of does," he says, getting on the motorcycle and gesturing for her to sit behind him.

"What about-"

He hands her the helmet before she can even complete the thought.

Waiting until she straps it on and adjusts it before starting the bike Jughead feels her arms wrap tightly around his middle and he's glad no one can see what he knows is an idiotic grin crossing his face.

* * *

By the time she's done telling him what she expects for an article about the football games he's thinking about getting on his knees and weeping with relief. Reporting on these games should be enough of a penance in his opinion, the only interesting thing about the entire night has been Betty. And possibly the fact that they sell junk food which included a corn dog that was both cold and the temperature of lava at the same time.

An impressive feat in his mind. The lunch ladies could learn something from the concession stand workers as far as he's concerned.

Waiting for Betty to return from taking her final pictures as he leans against the side of the bleachers after the game he's a little surprised to see Jason in front of him in his game uniform, sweating and looking irritated.

"What are you doing man?"

Standing up straight with a grimace at the words he just stares at him. "I'm learning how to report the football games to Betty's satisfaction."

Jason glares at him in return. "And you're worrying about Betty's satisfaction all of the sudden?"

Crossing his arms as he leans back against the bleachers again he smirks at him. "Do you not think Betty's satisfaction should be a priority?"

"Don't get cute, Jones. You fucked up, you acted like an idiot and lost her and I got her and I want you to back off."

Narrowing his eyes at that, Jughead's eyes harden. "You still know nothing about it, you know that right? You-"

"Oh, I have an idea," Jason interrupts. "I know that you got Veronica Lodge on your side, pushing you two together."

Jughead stays silent, eyes looking around Jason to see if anyone is listening in.

"Are you giving it to Lodge?" he questions, anger coloring his tone. "I know she's decent to look at but how can you handle how annoying she is-"

"Hey, don't talk about Veronica like that, man. You're taking it too far," Jughead tells him, squaring his shoulders as he stands straight again. There is nothing he'd like more than to punch him in the face but he knows if he does the only one getting consequences will be him.

Stepping closer to him as Jughead stands his ground he sneers at him, "I get it, you know. What it's like to want Betty Cooper. And if that means I have to put up with her irritating friends and deal with my bitchy sister that's what I'll do. But you? After watching her cry over you then watching as you crawl back into her life like the Southside trash you are-"

 _"What did you just say?"_

* * *

Walking the back way around the bleachers to where she left Jughead she can hear angry voices going back and forth. Hurrying she ends up being confused by the sight of Jason leaning aggressively toward Jughead as he stands there with an angry expression on his face.

She thinks she hears something insulting about Veronica before she can get close enough to fully hear what's being said.

The words ' _l_ _ike the Southside trash you are_ ' stop her in her tracks. Horrified that anyone would talk that way to someone else, she can't help herself as she says, "What did you just say?"

Jason spins around quickly, looking shocked to see her. "Betty, I-"

"Did you just call Jughead 'Southside trash'?" Betty asks, anger flaring at the insult. "Why would you say that to him? To anyone?!"

"Betty, why are you ignoring that he is going to use you? Just like the first time, he's going to get what he wants and then drop you all over again," Jason implores to her, walking closer to her.

She can see the controlled fury on Jughead's face as he stands there watching their interaction. "Jughead is my friend. He's apologized and told me his reasons and I accepted them, anything after that is-"

"Do you really thinks he wants to be your _friend_ , Betty? Really? Did you never ask yourself why he was hanging around Pop's after he treated you like you were nothing?" he asks her. "You're not that naive."

Betty is staring at him in disbelief. "He can go to Pop's any time he pleases, Jason, it's for anyone who wants to eat there. Do you really think his only goal is to sleep with me?"

"What else would it be?" he questions and she can't believe he's talking this way to her.

Stung by his words she can feel the anger and hurt building as her eyes start to burn and she fights the tears that want to escape. "Is that my worth then?"

Looking stricken, Jason takes another step towards her. "You know that's not what I mean. You know I don't think of you like that, Betty."

Taking a step back she shakes her head. "You do realize that implies that you think of other girls like that, right? So, if Jughead was trying to use some other girl that you didn't care about would you be here, calling him trash and trying to warn her?"

His silence is answer enough for her.

"I really thought better of you, Jason. I ignored everything everyone said about you because I never saw it," she tells him quietly. "How will I ever know if you weren't the one wanting to use me?"

"Betty-"

"No, Jason. I don't want to talk to you right now." Holding her jacket closed tightly she looks over at Jughead. "Can you take me home?"

He nods at her, walking past a visibly upset Jason without sparing him a glance as he puts an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side. "Are you okay?"

She shrugs and looks down at the ground as they walk. "I'll be fine."

Holding onto Jughead as the wind hits her in the face only does a little to improve her mood on the ride back to her house. She's a little nervous at what she wants to ask him as he follows her up the stairs to her front door but she thinks she needs to know.

Before she loses her nerve she turns quickly and asks, "Was he right? About why you were at Pop's?"

She can hear his sharp intake of air at her question.

"I don't know how to answer that," he tells her, looking uncomfortable.

Wishing she never asked but still needing the answer, she replies, "How about honestly?"

"Honestly? Yes. And no. And everything in between," he says to her, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. "Come on, Betty, you know why I was at Pop's."

"Do I?" she asks, looking up and holding eye contact with him.

He's staring at her intently, his eyes flicking between her mouth and eyes and she can tell he's struggling with whatever decision he's trying to make.

So she makes it for him when she surges up on her toes to press her lips to his, catching his lower lip between hers. He reacts immediately, following her down as she sinks back on her feet, putting his hands on either side of her face, brushing his thumbs along her jawline and across the sides of her cheeks.

His lips are warm and soft as they move against hers, her hands coming up to grab onto the collar of his jacket to keep him in place. Letting him walk her backwards to press her against the wall next to the door she moves her arms until she's wrapped them around his neck, bringing his body closer to hers. As she teases his lips with the tip of her tongue, one of his hands moves to her lower back to pull her closer to him as the other gently grips her neck, his long fingers holding her jaw back slightly as he meets her tongue with his, the soft slide of them against each other making her want to moan into his mouth.

When she finally breaks the kiss to take a deep breath he rests his forehead against hers and the feel of his warm breath on her skin in the cold air of the night gives her goosebumps. He's rubbing a thumb across the apple of her cheek and she can hear her heartbeat in her ears when he whispers, "Wow."

 _Wow indeed_ , she thinks as she tightens her grip on his neck and pulls his mouth back against hers.

* * *

 _ **Day Seventeen**_

 _They're sitting together in class trying to control their laughter to keep from getting in trouble as they whisper back and forth about their terrible first kisses._

 _"She bit me, Betty!" he exclaims quietly. "The only thing I got out of it is the knowledge that Spin the Bottle is hell and no parties after fifth grade have good food."_

 _"That is not why you showed up!" Betty declares through her quiet giggles._

 _"It was," Jughead sighs out. "And not a single piece of pizza was there to help heal the wounds of my poor lip."_

 _"If it makes you feel better, mine was horrible too."_

 _"Oh yeah?"_

 _"I asked Kevin to do it so I'd know what I was doing when the time came and it would actually mean something," she tells him, leaning closer to talk even more quietly. "It was weird and wet and when it was over he looked at me and said, 'I was right, kissing girls is awful'. That did not build my confidence at all, Jug."_

 _He's laughing so hard at that he lays his head down on his arms to try and muffle the sound of it._

 _"It's not funny! When he came out, I spent a week thinking I turned him off girls for life until he told me differently."_

 _"Betty, it's hilarious," he says, putting his hand over hers as he gets control of his laughter. "I think first kisses only count when you can't wait to have them."_

 _She nods in agreement with him as she pretends to go back to reading her book when the teacher walks by._

 _Staring at her, he thinks if he ever gets the chance to kiss Betty Cooper it'll be the best last first kiss he ever has._

* * *

 **A/N: Random fun fact- I picked Jason for his part because of his crush on Betty in the comics.**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Day Twenty-Five**_

 _"Almost uncomfortable, right?" Veronica Lodge whispers to him while he's standing next to a tree while watching Betty and Archie laugh at some childhood inside joke neither one of them understand._

 _"I don't know what you're talking about," he denies, avoiding eye contact._

 _She smirks at him with a knowing grin. "I'm sure. If it helps, it's not like that between them, it never has been."_

 _"Why not?" Jughead blurts out before thinking. Grimacing at her triumphant look he just continues eating._

 _"You are aware that people with both vaginas and penises can actually exist without putting their parts together, right?"_

 _Making a face at her he says, "That's not what I meant and you know it. Why wouldn't he want to be with her? I mean, just look at her." Gesturing to where Betty is sitting, laughing along with Archie, her smile bright and happy, he feels the point is obvious._

 _Arching an eyebrow at him she replies, "I'm going to ignore the fact that you just insinuated my boyfriend should find someone else more attractive-"_

 _"Thank you."_

 _"You're welcome. But, Jughead, Betty isn't interested in Archie. Not when she has those pretty eyes of hers set on someone a little less jock and a lot more Caulfield."_

 _He's shocked by the insinuation. Staring at her dumbly, he just opens his mouth but nothing comes out._

 _"I know, right? You're incredibly lucky," she tells him, turning to face him completely. "But if you so much as make my Bettykins frown, I will ruin you." Poking a manicured finger into his chest with each word she makes her point. "Is that clear?"_

 _"Crystal."_

 _"Good, I'm glad we understand each other. Now, pretend you're not jealous of Archie and go distract your girl with whatever it is you two seem to enjoy talking about._

* * *

"What does this mean?" he asks Betty as he pulls away from her, glancing at her swollen lips before he looks into her eyes. "Aren't you dating Jason?"

"Dating?" Betty says in a confused tone.

Jughead steps back, putting a few more inches of space between them before he gets distracted again. "Yeah. I don't want to be the other guy, even if it's on a technicality."

She looks up at him with a confused look and he's about to cave and kiss her again when she says, "I'm not dating Jason-"

"But-"

"I went on one date with him and he kissed me one time-"

"Oh gross, Betty, don't tell me that."

Narrowing her eyes and pursing her lips she gives him a once-over before she says, "Are you serious?"

His head drops as he stares at his shoes in defeat. "I know how it sounds-"

"It sounds like you're jealous of someone that showed interest in me and didn't reject me after you did. And fairly brutally if I remember right," Betty interrupted. "I mean, it's not like I'm telling you how he picked me up and took me to dinner and movie before we walked around holding hands and then how he kissed me before he said goodnight or anything."

The sick feeling in his stomach makes him close his eyes as he swallows the lump in his throat at her words. Breathing in deep, his eyes open as he reaches out for her, arms wrapping around her, pulling her against his chest.

"I'm sorry," he whispers into her hair. "God, Betty, just so fucking sorry, you have no idea."

"I know you are," she murmurs into the fabric of his jacket. "But you were a real jerk."

"I was. It was what I thought I needed to-"

"You did _not_ have to do it like you did," she cuts him off as her arms come around him. "I'm working on letting it go, I promise."

"Does that mean I-"

"You're still covering the football games, Jughead," Betty interrupts with a small laugh.

"Damn."

Betty pulls back, looking up at him with a sweet smile. "I better go inside. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," Jughead tells her, leaning forward to place a soft kiss against her forehead.

"Tomorrow is Saturday, Jug," Betty informs him. "No school."

"Alright." He shrugs as he takes a step back. "So, can I see you tomorrow?"

Laughing as she opens her door she tells him over her shoulder, "We'll see. But feel free to call me." Stopping she twists further around to catch his eye. "I might even answer."

* * *

Coffee in hand on Monday morning he hears Betty talking to someone as he reaches the newspaper office. As soon as he hits the doorway he sees Jason standing next to the desk Betty is leaning on, face serious and arms crossed.

"Betty, look, I know I sounded like an asshole on Friday but you have to see my perspective, right? He hurt you, I watched you cry over him and him completely ignore you and suddenly you're friends with him again?" he hears Jason telling her.

He stops and stares at the interaction, not wanting to interrupt, knowing he shouldn't eavesdrop but needing to know what Betty was going to say. The lingering guilt he has over the way he treated her and the hurt Betty still feels over it has kept him a little raw over the weekend despite sharing the best kiss he's ever had and spending Saturday afternoon with her at Pop's.

"Jason," Betty starts wearily, "he had his reasons and yes, he had no business doing it the way he did but-"

"Are you listening to yourself?" Jason cuts her off. "He had reasons to treat you like trash so it's okay?"

"No, it's not, it's not okay at all and he knows that."

Jason huffs out an irritated breath and runs his hands through his hair. "Betty, I had to watch you pine over this guy who went out of his way to hurt you and when you were finally moving past it he shows back up and he's sorry? You don't think he's going to hurt you again? Really?"

"The way you treated him was pretty bad as well, Jason. You called him trash and I'm pretty sure you said something horrible about Veronica," Betty states firmly. "How are you any better than him if that's the way you talk to people?"

"I lost my temper," he admits. "I said things I shouldn't have-"

"But you still think them, don't you?"

Jason tilts his head back and looks at the ceiling for a moment before looking back at her. "He's not good enough for you, Betty. He's just _not_. And yes, I find Veronica Lodge annoying just like I know you find my sister annoying."

"No, Jason, I find Cheryl to be mean. She's a bully and I thought you were better than that, I really did. I ignored the rumors because I never saw it, not once," she tells him. "But you're just like Reggie and Chuck, aren't you?"

"Betty-"

"I kissed him," Betty blurts out. "And I think you should know, Jason, because I didn't do it because I was mad at you or because I wanted prove something, I did it because I _wanted_ to."

"Seriously?" Jason asks, shock clear in his voice. "You kissed him? Even after everything, even after me and you-"

"I just thought you should know," Betty interjects quietly.

"And what now? You're just gonna date the guy that screwed you over?" he questions. "I waited weeks for you to get over him, I liked you for months before that but some weird kid from the bad side of town shows up and he wins because you get forced to work together?"

"I get to choose, Jason," she states, standing up straight and seeing Jughead in the doorway for the first time. "It's always my choice. There are no winners or losers, there's only what I decide for myself."

Jason reaches to grab the bag that had been sitting on the floor next to him and pulling it up over his shoulder as he glares at her. "I can't believe I wasted my time on you."

He turns to walk out of the room and stops when he sees Jughead standing there. Walking forward he hits him with his shoulder and Jughead reaches out to stop him from leaving completely. "If you ever talk to her like that again, I'll lay you out. I may be the weird kid from the bad side of town but I'm the weird kid from the bad side of town _who will fuck you up_ -"

"You're such a loser, Jones," he tells him in a low tone so Betty can't hear.

"That may be, Blossom, but right now? I'm the loser who got the girl," Jughead responds just as quietly, clapping him hard on the shoulder. "You know where I live, where I come from so I imagine you're aware of who I know. Keep that in mind."

Letting him pass out of the doorway he shuts the door once he's gone and hands her the coffee he had been holding onto.

"Thanks," she says with a smile. "Should I assume you heard everything, then?"

"Depends on what you consider everything," he answers. "I got here right around him telling you he acted like an asshole the other night."

"Close enough," Betty states. "Is there a reason you keep bringing me coffee? Veronica usually brings it for me whether I ask for it or not."

"According to Veronica I'm apparently taking care of your coffee needs now," he tells her.

"Jug, you don't have to do that." Taking a sip of it, she asks, "Where are you getting this? It can't be cheap to buy coffee every day. And how do they make it just like I like? Not even Veronica's coffee spot can do it this well."

His face heats up and he reaches up and adjusts his hat with a light cough.

Betty must see his discomfort. "What?"

Rubbing a hand on the back of his neck he refuses to meet her eye as he admits, "Uh-I don't buy it. I mean I bring it to you, yeah, but I make it." His ears are even hotter than before when he realizes exactly what he's admitting to. "I just-I remember how you like it so I thought-"

He's interrupted by an armful of Betty Cooper as she pulls his head down to her to press her lips against his, wrapping her arms around his neck as his own move to tug her closer. Trying to control his groan at the feel of her hands moving up into the back of his hair he edges one of his hands lower to hold onto her hip as the other moves to between her shoulder blades to keep her in place.

Pulling back she looks up at him with a happy grin. "Where do you get those cups from then? They're so cute."

Embarrassed all over again he just laughs and brings her back in for another kiss.

* * *

"How do you feel about coming over after school?" Jughead asks during lunch. She's leaning into him and he can feel the eyes on them but they're both studiously ignoring the gossip they both know is going around by now.

The whispers of how Betty Cooper threw Jason Blossom over for the new kid had been going through the halls all morning. Unless you were Cheryl Blossom who was telling anyone who would listen that her JJ had " _finally gotten his good sense and taste back and dropped her like the bad habit she was."_ That they had hung out for weeks before their short time apart didn't help the stories flying around either.

From tales of wild jealousy and competition (almost totally untrue) to Jughead pining until he got to the courage to go for it no matter who was interested (almost completely true) to being handpicked by Betty's very own bulldog, Veronica (uncomfortably almost close to being somewhat partially true), it'd been a very busy morning in the halls of Riverdale High.

"Are you propositioning me, Jug?" Betty asks as she eats. "He gets close to second base before eight am and suddenly he thinks-"

"Hey!" Jughead interrupts. "I like to think that was a respectable second base."

"Oh please, I've gotten further with Veronica," she informs him. "She's very handsy when she's making me try on clothes."

"You just had to put that in my head, didn't you?" he breathes out, putting an arm around her and lightly kissing her temple.

"What?"

"Nothing," he says quickly. "So, can you come over to my house after school? I need your help with something."

"Sure. Are you going to tell me what it is you want help with?"

Jughead hesitates. "Yeah, but not here, okay?"

Betty just shrugs her agreement resting her head on his shoulder and finishing her lunch. He breathed a silent sigh of relief that she was too distracted to keep questioning him about it. Jughead's not completely certain but he doesn't think he has the resolve to lie to her again and he _really_ doesn't want anyone to overhear when he does tell her.

Checking his phone he sees the _You're welcome_ text Veronica had sent him after he found her telling Betty she needed Archie and Kevin for something during lunch. Shaking his head at her antics, he checks his more Southside related messages and makes sure that Sweet Pea knows when to stop by.

 _Come by after 4pm okay?_ is the text he sends and the quick response of _No problem_ gives him a little relief that he might be able to handle what's coming. Putting his phone back in his pocket he tightens his arm around her.

"Can you feel the heat of the stares?" he asks her as he looks around at the people who seem to still be interested in the rumors of the day.

"Hmm, it feels about the same as having you stare holes into the back of my head when I was sitting with Jason," she responds, throwing him a shrewd little smile.

Jughead huffs. "Okay, yes, I could have handled that better but in my defense, I was-" he pauses, "-really stupidly jealous."

"The stupid part of that is right for sure."

"Am I ever going to live it down?"

Betty bites her lip in thought. "No."

"Fine, but at least let me make it up to you," he tells her, gathering their things before they walk back into the school.

"Oh yeah? How?"

He turns to look at her and she's got the same look in her eyes right before she jumped on him that morning. "Cooper, are you thinking dirty things?"

The pink blush that covers her cheeks has him laughing as he takes her hand and continues up the path that will take them to the newspaper office.

"I was thinking of food but if the lady has other ideas, I'm sure I can be accommodating."

Glaring at him, she knocks her shoulder into his. "Bite me."

"Is that a request?"

"Oh my god."

* * *

He's a little anxious as he lets Betty into his trailer for the first time. After having been to her house and seen the way she lives he can't help but be apprehensive that she'll run in the other direction once she sees how his life is.

Gesturing to the small living room he tells her, "You can sit anywhere you want."

Betty nods at him as she moves to sit on the sofa, dropping her bag next to her feet. "So, what's up?"

Grabbing his hat off of his head as he runs his hand through his hair nervously before putting it back on he starts to pace the short length of the living room. "You remember what I said about how I ended up at Riverdale High?"

"Yes, you tried to take on someone named Penny Peabody and it turned out to be a bad idea."

"Right, I messed up and Penny ended up with the upper hand. My dad said he was going to handle it but it's not getting any better," he says, stopping in front of her. "Sweet Pea-"

"Sweet Pea, your friend from Southside High?" she interrupts.

"Yeah, he had an idea and it's ridiculous but if we can pull it off then it might at least give us breathing room to figure out a longer term solution."

"I'm in," she declares.

"Just like that?" he wants to know, disbelief coloring his tone.

Nodding at him she reaches up to take his hand. "Just like that."

Hauling her up into his arms he picks her up by her waist and spins her around as she laughs, holding onto his shoulders. Not watching where he was going he ends up pressing her against a wall so he can kiss her, adjusting her so he can get his hands to grip onto the backs of her thighs, holding her up and pushing his hips into hers as she lets out a soft little moan at the feeling of his tongue sliding along hers. Knowing he's not going to be able to hold her up and also touch her the way he wants, he spins them around again and walks quickly toward the counter slamming her into the cabinets and setting her on the counter with more force than he intended.

He's about to apologize when she pulls him back to her, pushing his jacket off of his shoulders and onto the floor, grabbing the hem of his shirt, tugging at it until he pulls it up over his head, the beanie on his head coming off with it, dropping both as he moves back to kiss her again.

Running his hands under the edge of her shirt, dragging the fabric up and over her head and past her stretched arms, throwing it to the side so as he glances down, seeing her sitting there breathing heavily in nothing but her bra and jeans. Trailing the tips of his fingers at the edge of the lace of her bra, along the tops of her breasts he meets her eyes.

" _Fuck_ , you're beautiful," he whispers to her, kissing her once more.

Feeling her hands moving against the skin of his stomach, the sensation of her nails scraping across his sides making him shudder as he leans forward, pressing his chest against hers, his lips searching out the line of her jaw as his hand grasps the back of her neck before he tugs on a handful of her hair, pulling her ponytail out so he can see her hair down around her shoulders.

Her eyes are closed as she lets her head fall back against the door of the cabinet while he bites his way softly down the slope of her throat, his free hand running a thumb over a lace covered nipple, making her gasp as he sucks what he- slightly smugly -thinks will be a mark onto the skin of her collarbone.

As he's pulling the fabric of her bra down and under her breast the loud knocking on the front door makes them both jump, Betty's hands flying up to cover her chest.

"Who is that?!" she exclaims, looking at him with wide eyes.

Trying to calm his breathing he rests his head on her shoulders, running his hands up her jean covered thighs as he answers, "Sweet Pea. I asked him to come over and that makes me an idiot."

"Juggie, I don't know what the girl version of blue balls is but you _owe_ me," she asserts, her face flushed and serious. He can feel her thighs tensing under his palms as she clenches them in discomfort.

The knocking gets louder accompanied by a yell of, "I know you're in there, Jones! Open the damn door."

Betty tilts her head at him. "Yeah, Jones. Open the damn door." Pushing off the counter and grabbing her shirt putting it quickly over her head she's at the door before he's even coherent enough to remember where his own clothes are.

He hears Betty opening the door and Sweet Pea's loud footsteps as he twists around looking for his shirt and hat. A cough pulls him out of his search and he snaps to attention when he notices Sweet Pea leaning against the wall with a smirk on his face.

"Looking for something?"

"Shut up," he responds, finally spotting the pile of clothes on the floor. Picking up his hat and shirt he sees Betty fixing her hair in the background as he moves to put them on.

"You asked me here, you know," Sweet Pea tells him.

Jughead sighs, walking back into the living room and standing next to Betty. "I know I did."

"What's going on?" Betty asks, looking between him and Sweet Pea. Seeming to remember herself she sticks out her hand and says, "It's nice to finally meet you."

Sweet Pea looks amused as he shakes her hand, throwing Jughead a look. "You the girl that's got him staring lovestruck at his phone then? Sorry sweetheart, I didn't catch your name."

"It's Betty," she replies, throwing Jughead a side eyed glance.

"Nice to meet you, Betty," he says with a smile. "Now, Jones, tell me what I'm here for."

Exhaling loudly, Jughead gestures to Betty. "You wanted a mechanic? I got you one."

"Her?"

"Yeah," he responds. "Her."

Betty crosses her arms and glares at the both of them. "Her is standing right here. What is going on?"

"Sweet Pea here wants to run a drag race against the Ghoulies and he needs someone to help him with the car he's got."

"A drag race? What is that going to do?" Betty looks like she's trying desperately not to laugh. "Is there also going to be a rumble?"

"Look, Sweets here says he's gotten the Ghoulies to agree to it as a sort of bet, if we win, they give up their hold on some of their Southside territory," he tells her.

She's biting her lips while looking down.

He heaves out an exasperated breath. "Go on, get it out."

"So, it's not for pink slips then?" Betty asks, giggling. "I thought you were in the Serpents not the T-Birds."

"Betty-"

"If anyone breaks out into a spontaneous musical number I reserve the right to record it for posterity."

"Cooper," he almost growls at her as she helplessly laughs at him.

"No, no, last one I promise. Now, this car, it's not called a pussy wagon is it?"

Even Sweet Pea starts laughing at the last one. Jughead is half irritated and half amused by her sweet laughter.

"Are you done?" he asks, faux anger on his face.

"Hey, I didn't say anything about the snake on your arm!" she protests. "He's wearing a little crown, Jughead. A _crown_. And I said _nothing._ "

"So," Sweet Pea cuts in, "are you going to help or not, sweetheart?"

"I already told Jug I'd help," she tells him. "I don't really get the appeal of a drag race but-"

"Betts, the Ghoulies, their leader Malachi? He's the sort of guy who's gonna get off on this. It's to buy us time and rattle him, so we need to win. Okay?"

She nods once at him and gives him an affectionate look with soft eyes. "Anything you need, Jug."

* * *

 _ **Day Thirty**_

 _"Are you sure you can't work on the paper with me?" she implores, the sweet puppy look on her face destroying his resolve. If it were up to him, he would be on it with her but his dad had been very clear when he asked about it the first time._

 _"No. I don't want you near anything where you can cause any sort of chaos. And you with access to printing articles like you did at Southside? Absolutely not." His dad's words had stung but he had listened though he was regretting it now._

 _The green of her eyes was enough to make him consider starting a riot if she simply so much as asked but he knows he needs to keep his head down and pissing off his dad was not a way to do that. Not yet anyway._

 _"You know that I can't," he says regretfully. "But if you need my help with anything all you need to do is ask."_

 _"Are you sure? I don't want to take advantage of your time."_

 _He knows he's wearing what Veronica calls his 'stupidly soft Betty Cooper face' when he smiles at her and tells her, "Anything you need, Betty."_

* * *

 **A/N: Happy Thursday, y'all!**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Day Thirty-five**_

 _"I was thinking you could come hang out with Archie, Kevin, Veronica, and I on Friday night if you wanted."_

 _Jughead is apprehensive. He wants to spend time with Betty and making friends with her friends outside of school would make that easier. She must be able to see his hesitation because her face falls a little._

 _"You don't have to, Jug, but Archie said you might like the movies he's picked and apparently he wants to test your appetite for himself," she tells him with a nervous smile. "I was going to make brownies, too."_

 _Unable to resist the eyes he's sure she's not even aware she's making he narrows his eyes are her playfully. "A test of my appetite and brownies? How could I resist?"_

 _The happy smile she gives him is enough to get him over his nerves of dealing with people he barely knows. Maybe being friends with Betty's friends won't be so bad. He only hopes she keeps an open mind when she meets his._

* * *

"You do know you're punching way above your weight, right?" Toni informs him as she steps up next to him where he's watching Betty while she's working on the car Sweet Pea had gotten. He's slightly startled by her sudden presence and had he not been completely invested in staring at Betty's hips swaying to some music as she's bent over the engine he might have heard her coming.

"How can you even tell? You can't even see her," he responds wryly. "Just her-"

"Even her ass is out of your league, so I imagine the rest is, too."

"What is it about the women in my life? It's like they live to torture me," Jughead groans out as Toni laughs at him.

"If you didn't make it so easy, maybe we wouldn't," she tells him, clapping him on the back before walking up next to Betty.

Following her quickly before she can ruin every good impression he's ever made on Betty he stands right behind her for a moment, admiring, before tapping her on her shoulder to get her attention.

Startled, Betty jumps a little before standing and spinning to face him. "Oh! Hey, Juggie."

He can hear Toni snort at him and he knows he is _never_ going to live that nickname down. Hearing her, Betty turns the other way to see who was standing on her other side.

"Hi, I'm Betty," she says, reaching out to offer her hand before seeing it and pulling it back. "Sorry, I didn't realize I was so greasy."

"No problem," Toni tells her, waving off her apology. "I'm Toni."

"Please for the love of god, Betty, do not listen to a word she says about me," he pleads to her, resting both of his hands on her shoulders.

"All that does, Jug, is tell me I should listen to every word she has to say," Betty responds with a smile. "Especially the ones about little baby Jug in puberty."

Toni laughs loudly. "You should have heard him when his voice was breaking all the time, we all have recordings of it to keep as blackmail."

Betty's eyes brighten as her smile widens. Jughead sees the thought before she speaks it.

"No, no one is going to play them for you, no matter how much you beg," he says sternly. "Absolutely not."

"But-"

Jughead is staring at her with hard eyes that soften as she starts to pout. "Fine, just one, and it has to be from Sweet Pea, he wasn't nearly as horrible about it as the she-devil standing behind you."

"Yes!" she exclaims triumphantly with a big smile and he can't help but laugh and pull her in for a kiss, wiping the smudge of grease off her nose.

Betty swings around to face Toni and starts to ask her a question when Toni cuts her off by reaching out and lightly touching the very visible mark Jughead had left on her collarbone.

"You do this, Jug?" Toni asks, looking at him pointedly.

He can feel the heat all the way up to his ears when he just scowls at her in return.

"Toni," he warned, glaring at her. At Betty's blush as she reaches to touch the mark he asks, "Really?"

"I'm almost impressed," she tells him as she gives Betty a thorough once over. "Who knew you had it in you?"

"Excuse me?" Jughead interjects, offended.

"Tell me he didn't leave you hanging," she says to Betty. "I find men have a tendency to leave a girl with Blue Thighs."

"Blue Thighs? What are those?" she asks, then thinking about it for a second stops and nods. "Yeah, that's a great description. You're totally clenching your thighs after, like your legs are upset they don't have anything to wrap around," Betty says, walking off with Toni to one of the toolboxes.

"What the _fuck_ just happened?" he whispers to himself, totally confused. And now he's never going to get the image of Betty's legs happily sighing with contentment after they wrap around _him_ out of his head.

"Did you let Toni take off with your girl?" he hears Sweet Pea ask. "Didn't you learn that lesson the hard way once?"

Jughead spins and looks at him, confused. Then he remembers. "Oh fuck."

Moving quickly to where they're standing and talking, he comes up behind Betty and puts his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder while glaring at Toni. She's smirking at him as Betty leans back into him, never stopping her conversation.

"I think Sweets is looking for you," he tells Betty as he lets her go so she can head back to the car.

Once she's out of earshot, he's narrowing his eyes at Toni. "Can you not?"

"What?" she asks innocently.

Crossing his arms as he stares at her he just raises an eyebrow. "Do you have to hit on my girlfriend?"

"You talked labels did you?"

His face screwed up in confusion as he thought about it. "Well, no. But it's implied, Toni."

Toni leans against the toolbox to give him a once over. "Does she know that?"

"I hate you."

Shaking her head, Toni takes off back out of the garage door mumbling about the fragile state of masculinity.

* * *

He takes her to Pop's for a break after working on the car all morning and he's ready to curse and thank Toni since he's been thinking about "labels" since she said something to him about it but doesn't quite know how to bring it up to her yet. Watching her as she sits next to him, with the grease smudged on her face, her hair somehow still in the knot on the top of her head and the overalls that _still_ make him think words like 'adorable' he puts his arm around her, pulling her in so he can kiss her temple.

Giggling at him, she looks over. "What was that for?"

"No reason," he replies. "Hey, so Toni said something to me earlier and I've been thinking about it ever since."

"Okay?"

"See, she asked if we talked labels and I realized we hadn't so I was wondering if-"

"If I was your girlfriend?" Betty asks as she picks up a fry to eat. "What do you think?"

"I think if I assume one way or the other I open myself up to getting one of those fries shoved up my nose."

Betty rolls her eyes at him and tries to stick a fry in his ear instead.

"Stop that!" he complains at her, moving his hand to try and tickle the bare skin peeking out between her shirt and the denim of her overalls on her side.

"Aww, look JJ, the chimps are grooming each other," a voice cuts in, making them both stop and look at the face of an unimpressed Cheryl Blossom.

"Can I help you, Cheryl?" Betty asks, resigned to whatever was about to happen.

Cheryl purses her lips and narrows her eyes at Betty. "As a matter of fact-"

"Cher, don't bother," Jason interrupts, staring hard at the hickey on Betty's collarbone. Tugging on Cheryl's arm he tries to lead her away before she can say whatever it is she's going to say. "It's not worth it."

Throwing her hair over her shoulder she looks directly at Betty when she says, "No, it's certainly not."

Sighing in relief when they finally walk away, Jughead slouches a little into the booth, bringing Betty with him as he leans to the side, her head resting on his arm. "I swear every time she walks by I can feel the icy chill of death crawling up my spine."

"You're so dramatic, Jug," Betty replies, handing him the rest of her fries.

"I was being serious," he protests. "Anyway, we were talking about something important I think. Something about you being my…?"

"Mechanic?"

"No."

"Boss?"

"No."

"Study partner?"

With a smirk he pulls her a little closer. "Study partner for what?"

He can feel Betty groaning at him through his shirt.

"No?"

"Oh my god, Jughead."

Laughing, he reaches to steal the rest of her milkshake when she turns her face further into the fabric of his shirt and mumbles, "Do you want me to be your girlfriend?"

Adjusting them so he could wrap both arms around her, he moves her until she's almost in his lap. "Of course I do. Do you?"

"Want you to be my girlfriend? Sure."

Scoffing at her, he reaches around to try and grab her milkshake again as she slaps at his hand he whispers in her ear, "Do you want me to be your boyfriend, Betty?"

"Do you think you deserve to be?" she whispers back to him, looking up at him through her lashes.

He smiles at her, overwhelmed with the affection he feels for her. "No, not even a little but I want to be."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he answers, tipping her chin up with his fingers so he can dip his head down to press his lips to hers.

* * *

Pulling into the parking lot of the garage they had the car stored at his stomach drops when he sees both Malachi and Penny leaning on her car, seemingly waiting for him.

Bringing the motorcycle to a stop, he puts the kickstand down before standing up and reaching behind him to take Betty's hand and help her off, never taking his eyes off of the two in front of him.

"Well, what do we have here?" he hears Penny ask as she pushes off of the car, walking towards him.

"What can I do for you, Penny?" he questions, impatience clear in his tone.

"You owe me, little snake prince."

"I don't, but go on," he replies, looking bored. Shifting so he's standing slightly in front of Betty he sees Malachi catch the move and struggles not to roll his eyes.

Penny glares at him. "You know, I don't know what you think this race of yours is going to prove but it's not going to spare you from being in my debt."

"The race is between the Serpents and the Ghoulies, it has nothing to do with someone who'd sell her soul as long they thought there'd be a return on the investment." Finally giving in and rolling his eyes at the pair he sighs. "Although, can you sell what you never had?"

"So loyal to the Serpents even after they put you on probation?" she asks, taking a step closer. "Don't you see how disloyal they are to their own? And they say snakes never shed their skin."

A laugh bursts out of Betty at that. He twists around to look at her and she's got her hand over her mouth trying to suppress it.

"I'm sorry," she says, removing her hand from her mouth and gesturing at Penny. "I really am, but at what point does an adult learn that snakes do, in fact, shed their skin? Honestly, that's something you learn before junior high."

"Oh, so Blondie _does_ talk?" Malachi interjects. "And she sounds so sweet, too."

Betty starts laughing again much to his frustration. Widening his eyes at her he tries to project that she should let him handle the situation.

He fails.

"Blondie? Seriously? I'm not the one standing there looking like an extra from The Lost Boys," she snaps at Malachi.

"She's got fire, Jones. I like it," Penny tells him. "Don't tell me you forgot our last conversation on the matter?"

Jughead breathes in deeply keep his temper in check. He does remember the conversation where she threatened Betty if he didn't do what she wanted. "No, I didn't forget."

"Good boy," she coos at him as she turns to walk back to her car. "You'll be hearing from me."

Malachi is glaring at him when he turns to look at him. "What?"

Smirking he shrugs. "You sure you don't want to add your girl to the pot for the race?"

Exhaling heavily, Jughead stretches his neck to each side before taking in another deep breath and throwing right hook right into Malachi's jaw. He watches him fall to the ground, satisfied when he hears Betty's gasp and realizes what he's just done in front of her.

Spinning around to see her face, eyes wide and worried he starts to apologize. "God, Betty, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that in front of-"

She grabs his hand and looks at it. "Jughead, you could have hurt yourself!"

Confused by her reaction he pulls his hand back. "You're not upset I just punched a guy but you are upset I could have hurt my hand?"

Betty gives him a look that he knows means she's rethinking his intelligence. "His face can only be improved by a busted jaw. Your hands? You write with these, Jug. And you owe me that article for last night's football game."

He grins at her, watching Malachi look between him and Penny, trying to decide if he should retaliate. Seeing Penny shake her head he throws Jughead a dirty look and heads toward Penny.

"Just the article, huh?" he asks, reaching out to push a loose lock of hair behind her ear.

Betty gives a coy smile. "Maybe a little bit more, too."

* * *

" _Fuck_ ," he whispers into her ear, nipping her earlobe before moving his lips down the curve of her skin, biting her softly where her shoulder and neck meet. He's standing behind her as she faces the car, one hand slipping around and down between the fabric of her overalls and the shirt she's wearing, fingers playing with the elastic edge of her panties as her breathing gets erratic.

Pressing the palm of his other hand on her stomach he moves it under the hem of her shirt, pulling the cotton up as he runs his thumb along the underside of her breast, the feeling of lace and soft skin making him groan lowly as he plucks at the fabric, asking for permission to pull it up.

Betty nods her agreement quickly, hands flat on the car. He pushes the hand still playing with her panties a little lower in another question and another frantic nod has him tugging her bra up and sliding his other hand down at the same time, making her moan, the echo of it hitting the walls of the garage.

The weight of her breast in his hand as he runs his thumb over her nipple sends shivers down his spine and he pushes his hips into her, forcing her closer to the body of the car and making her lean forward slightly. She leans back to stand upright again, her right arm reaching behind her head to hold onto the back of his neck, fingers flexing against his skin as she starts to pant when the hand under her panties goes even lower, fingers brushing against her clit, making her jerk at the sensation.

Jughead can feel Betty stand on the balls of her feet, pushing her body back against his, the hand not holding onto his neck going under her shirt to cover his as he softly tugged at the hardened nipple, eliciting a louder moan from her.

"Do you like that?" he asked, starting to move the fingers pressed against her clit in small circles.

Betty nods once more at him, her head falling back against his shoulder with her eyes closed. Moving to her other breast he sees the hand that had covered his continuing where he left off and he pulls her back even tighter to him as she starts to grind her hips back into him. Breathing heavily into her hair at the feeling and the visual he moves his fingers faster, the feeling of her legs tensing and slightly moving back and forth spurning him on.

She twists her head, her grip on his neck tightening until he realizes what she wants. Kissing her, he edges his tongue against her lips until she lets him in, the warm, soft slide of her tongue against his making him moan into her mouth. Wishing he was in a position to put his mouth on her, her breasts, just more of her in general, he continues the soft pull of her nipple in the way he's already discovered she likes; his other fingers moving steady against her clit as her entire body tenses and starts to shake as she bends slightly at the knees, her thighs closing and holding his hand in place as she yells out against his mouth, face flushed with pleasure.

Holding her until she's calm he presses soft kisses against her neck until her body relaxes and her breathing evens out.

"You're beautiful when you come, did you know that?" he informs her and she laughs, standing up and away from him as he pulls his hands away from her.

Jughead is surprised when she turns around, throwing her arms around his neck, bringing him to her and pressing her lips against his. As soon as he gets his arms around her, trying to deepen the kiss, she's moved and grabbing for the waist of his jeans and undoing the button and zipper, reaching her hand into his boxers and grabbing the length of him in her warm hand. The shock of it makes him stagger back a little with him holding onto her shoulders to steady himself.

"Betty," he manages to get out, "you don't need to do that."

She stops and stares at him, her brow furrowing. "You don't want me to?"

Panting, he moves his hands to either side of her neck. "Oh, I want you to but I don't want you to feel like you have to."

"But I want to."

Jughead has _just_ enough brain capacity left to nod at her, taking in her pretty face as she bites her lip in concentration.

"I haven't done this before," she tells him quietly as her hand tentatively moves up and down making him a little lightheaded.

"Uh-" he starts the pauses when a moan slips out, "-me either."

She stops and he almost growls at the loss of sensation but catches himself as he sees her inquisitive face.

"Really?"

Biting back a pained sigh he looks down at her. "Is this, maybe, something we talk in depth about later?"

Betty starts moving her hand again and his knees almost buckle in relief. He's holding onto her, leaning towards her, resting his forehead on hers as she continues to move her hand, sometimes twisting her wrist as she moves up, increasing speed as his breathing increases until he can feel the pleasure building in his abdomen, his muscles contracting as he lets out a low groan into the top of her hair as he finishes.

Pulling her close to him, he wraps his arms tightly around her, tilting her chin up so he can press his lips to hers, both of them smiling into the kiss. "Being alone with you is my favorite thing, did you know?"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, how could it not be?" he questions her. Hoping for the best while she might still be a little distracted he asks, "So, Betts, do I still have to write the article about the game?"

"Oh yeah."

"Dammit," he whispers as she giggles at his disappointment.

* * *

 _ **Day Thirty-eight**_

 _He's nervous as he rings the Andrews' doorbell. Archie answers the door with a the laid back demeanor of someone whose biggest issue in life is which girl to date and while it irks Jughead he keeps telling himself he's here for Betty._

 _"Hey, Jughead," Archie says, opening the door wider for him to walk in. "The girls aren't here yet."_

 _Great, he thinks. Left alone with Archie Andrews like they have anything in common. By the look on Archie's face Jughead thinks he might be having the same thought when they both realize the only thing they have in common is Betty._

 _"So," Jughead begins, "how long have you lived next door to Betty?"_

 _"Since we were four," he answers. "She showed up in my yard one day telling me since her sister wouldn't play with her, that she needed me to 'please play dolls with me right now'."_

 _Jughead laughs at that. He can imagine a bossy little Betty who's still polite enough to demand something with a 'please'._

 _"Did you?" he asks Archie with a grin._

 _"I did. She declared us best friends and then brought me cookies the next day. Best decision I ever had made for me."_

 _Chuckling, he nods at him again as he hears the door open and the quick chatter he has only ever heard come out of girls who are talking to each other and ignoring everything else. Turning around to face the doorway he sees Betty holding a plate and talking to Veronica when she spots him, the smile that lights up her face makes him wish they were alone._


	6. Chapter 6

_**Day Forty Seven**_

 _"Betty, what are you doing?" he asks, reaching out to touch her hands._

 _Startled, she pulls her hands back. "What?"_

 _"You're going to cut yourself," Jughead tells her, reaching back out to turn her right hand over, trying to unclench her fingers before she hurt herself worse. The sight of the scars on her palms as he gets her fingers to move makes him stiffen. "What-"_

 _"It's fine," Betty insists. "I'm fine."_

 _"Betty," he starts, "this isn't a bad habit like biting your nails, this is you hurting yourself."_

 _She looks away as she pulls her arms back quickly, wrapping them around herself. "I know that, Jughead."_

 _"Are you getting help for it?"_

 _Shrugging at him, she still avoids his gaze. "My mom knows but I don't think she cares to be honest. Archie wouldn't know what to do and Veronica would probably follow me around every moment of the day and try and sit in on the therapy sessions I know she'd try and pay for."_

 _Jughead laughs softly at that in agreement._

 _"It's not so bad anymore," she says to him, a small smile curling over her lips as she finally looks up at him. "This is the first time in a week I've done it."_

 _"Can I do anything?"_

 _Betty bumps his arm with her shoulder, her cheeks turning pink as she murmurs, "You already are."_

* * *

"Have I thanked you for all your help lately?" he asks her, pulling her closer to him in the hallway before the first class of the day.

Tapping a finger to her chin in contemplation, Betty raises an eyebrow at him. "Hmm. I think you could thank me more _thoroughly_ if you want to really show your appreciation."

"Is that right?" he questions, tightening his grip as he leans down to kiss her. He can feel the fluttering of her hands before she decides to grab onto the collar of his jacket to hold him in place as he deepens the kiss, nipping at her lower lip before slipping his tongue along hers.

Forgetting where they are, Jughead pushes Betty up against her locker with a low groan into her mouth. He feels her hands go around his neck and into his hair pulling it as he presses himself into her while his hands slip onto her hips, his fingers gripping them tightly, edging under the hem of her sweater.

Just as he's about to trail the tips of his fingers along the waist of her jeans to the oh-so-tempting dimples he knows are there waiting for him, he feels himself pushed forward, his teeth hitting Betty's, making her cry out in pain.

Jughead spins around, keeping Betty behind him as he glares at a smug looking Jason Blossom.

"You could have really hurt her," he snaps at him. "Look, I know you're pissed you lost her but-"

"Shut up, Jones. Even if I still wanted her, I wouldn't want your sloppy seconds," Jason responds in a bored tone.

Jughead can't stop himself before he had fistfuls of Jason's letterman jacket, pushing him across the hallway in anger. "What did you say?"

"I think you heard me," Jason says, pushing back against Jughead. "I've got no use for-"

"Shut your mouth," he interrupts, shoving him harder before throwing a right hook into the side of Jason's face.

Jughead feels himself being pulled off Jason and he turns to confront his new attacker when he sees the concerned brown eyes of Archie.

"Hey man, he's not worth it," Archie tells him lowly, gesturing slightly with a nod of his head to where he thinks Betty must still be standing.

Breathing in deep, Jughead gives a sharp nod as Archie lets him go and gives him a friendly clap on the shoulder as he walks past him to Jason.

He catches Betty's stare, the worry in her eyes clear as she stands there fidgeting and biting her lip in worry. Hearing Archie muttering to Jason, he only catches part of it as he focuses on Betty. He thinks it was something along the lines of " _I'll kick your ass if you ever talk about her like that again."_

Jughead will be _happy_ to help the day that that happens.

Reaching for Betty's hands, he rubs his thumb across the faded scars he knows are along her palm before saying, "Are you okay?"

Betty looks up at him, her lip a little swollen from either the impact or her biting on it in worry. "Yeah, I'm okay. Are you?"

"Of course. Guys like Jason Blossom get eaten alive on the Southside. He's lucky Archie showed up when he did."

Raising her eyebrows at him, she intertwines their fingers as she starts to pull him down the hallway and through the crowd that had gathered to watch the fight.

"Let's go, Rocky," she tells him as he laughs at the nickname. "You're lucky no teachers saw that, Jug."

Stopping and pulling her back to him he asks, "Does that make you my Adrian?"

"Ugh, you're so smug sometimes you-"

Cutting her off with a kiss he puts his free arm around her, hugging her tightly to him before kissing her forehead. "You could never be anyone's sloppy seconds, you know that right? Jason is just a jealous asshole."

Jughead can feel her nodding against his chin and he squeezes her a little bit tighter before letting her go and continuing their walk down the hallway to their first period.

* * *

"Do you think it'll work?" Jughead asks Sweet Pea.

"If it doesn't we'll just have to come up with something else," Sweet Pea responds, leaning on his elbows at one of the wooden tables in the Whyte Wyrm.

"Let's just hope this all goes according to plan," he says, sitting back in his chair as he adjusts his hat, looking Sweet Pea in the eye.

"Not much else we can do," Sweet Pea sighs out, letting his shoulders drop as they both nod at each other. "Aside from pray your old man doesn't find out beforehand."

"That, my friend, is the truest thing you've ever said."

* * *

"Yeah, see that right there?" Betty points to something he can't see because everything looks the same to him under the hood.

"Uhm," he starts, reaching in the general area she was pointing towards, "sure."

Betty exhales loudly and looks over at him. "Do you have any idea what I'm saying?"

Meeting her eye he shrugs at her. "Well, no. Not a clue. But I do know of about a hundred things I'd like to do to you on the hood of this car right now-"

"This your girl, Jug?" he hears the unmistakable voice of his dad ask as he jumps and hits his head.

"Ow, oh shit, what is that made out of?" Jughead complains, taking off his hat to rub at the top of his head.

"Metal," Betty deadpans. "I hear it's hard."

 _Not the only thing_ , he thinks to himself as he turns to his dad.

"Hey, Dad. What's up?" Jughead asks, trying to affect an air of nonchalance.

"What's going on?" FP asks with suspicion lacing his tone.

Betty puts on her best meeting the adults smile and reaches out to his dad with a slightly greasy hand. "Hi, Mr. Jones, I'm Betty. It's so nice to finally meet you."

Shaking Betty's hand his dad's expression softens as he smiles back at her. "Nice to finally meet you too, Betty. Are you keeping my boy out of trouble?"

"Define trouble," Betty says coyly as she gestures to Jughead. "And honestly, even if I tried, I don't think I have that kind of free time."

FP laughs loudly at that and Jughead wants to both kiss her and yell at her for how easily she's gotten another Jones man wrapped around her finger.

"So, Dad," he stammers out quickly, "what are you doing here?"

FP looks at him with a serious face. "What are _you_ doing here, Jughead?"

"Uh, uhm, you see-"

"Sweet Pea wanted me to take a look at his new car, see if he got a lemon or not," Betty interrupts, a sweet innocent look overtaking her features.

FP laughs again, shaking his head as he catches Jughead's eye. "You never had a chance did you, boy?"

He can feel the heat rushing up his neck as he tries and fails to keep from blushing at just how whipped he knows he is. Along with everyone else, apparently.

"I know you're up to something, Jug," FP sighs out, running a hand through his hair. "Especially since word is you punched Malachi in the jaw. You want to tell me the reason for that?"

"If I say no, what are the chances you'll let it go?"

"Slim to none," his dad responds, crossing his arms and staring hard at him.

Exhaling in defeat he spills everything to his dad, the race Sweet Pea set up, Penny and Malachi showing up and Jughead punching him, and the deal that was made with the Ghoulies.

"You and Sweet Pea actually think that's going to solve our problem?"

Wincing Jughead admits, "Well, no, but we have a plan for our plan so-"

"Start from the beginning and leave nothing out this time," FP tells him, grabbing a mechanic's stool to perch on as he listens to Jughead go through the story once more only this time with the most important details.

* * *

 **"** ** _Jughead Jones to the principal's office"_** is the announcement he hears the next morning much to the pleasure of most of the jocks he's seen Jason Blossom hanging around with in his first period of the day. Catching Betty's stare he tries to reassure her that everything will be fine but after punching Jason and skating on thin ice just for being from the Southside he thinks nothing good is about to happen.

Principal Weatherbee's secretary is glaring slightly at him as he arrives in the office and before he gets a word out she points to the open door that seems to be waiting for him.

Entering the office apprehensively he sees an overly smugly confident Jason Blossom with a black eye smirking at him.

"Mr. Jones, have a seat," Principal Weatherbee gestures to a chair across from his desk. "Now, it's been brought to my attention that you've assaulted one of your fellow students. Would you care to explain yourself?"

Jughead scoffs. "Not really. If I explain my side you won't believe me, if I tell you your perfect letterman jacket wearing, sports playing, above average grade achieving student said some rude things to my girlfriend and I lost my temper all you're going to hear is that I punched some Northside kid like the Southside scum I am, right?"

Principal Weatherbee purses his lips as he considers him. "Who is your girlfriend?"

He'd be lying if he said watching the principal's eyes widen as he said the words "Betty Cooper" didn't entertain him. He threw a grin Jason's way as he says it once more. "My girlfriend is Betty Cooper, Principal Weatherbee."

Using the intercom he asks Betty to come to his office and they sat there uncomfortably for the three minutes it took her to arrive.

Seeing her worried expression as she says, "You wanted to see me, Principal Weatherbee?"

Jughead stands up and offers Betty his chair, choosing to stand behind her with a hand on her shoulder as she sits and tries not to fidget nervously.

"Betty, it's come to my attention that there was an altercation between Mr. Jones and Mr. Blossom here. From what I can gather, it seems to be over you."

Betty is sitting as straight as possible as she stammers her reply. "Uh, yes, I mean, I think so? I don't know why Jason did what he did but I assume it's because he's still angry with me-"

"Angry with you why?" Principal Weatherbee cuts her off and seems to be unblinking as he watches her.

"Well, we were sort of seeing each other?" Betty offers as Jason huffs loudly from next to her. "But I-"

"Threw me over for your Southside gang member, we know the story, Betty," Jason interrupts, throwing a murderous look at Jughead.

"Hey man, let her speak," Jughead tells him, glaring at him over Betty's shoulder. "She's done nothing to you. She doesn't _owe_ you anything, Blossom."

"What is the truth here?" Weatherbee intercedes. "You don't deny punching Mr. Blossom, Mr. Jones. What did he say to provoke a violent reaction?"

Taking a deep breath, he tightens his fingers on Betty's shoulder as her hand comes up to settle over his in support.

"He inferred that Betty would be... _tainted_ by dating me," Jughead explains. "And that was after he pushed me into her hard enough that she could have been hurt by it."

"Is this true Miss Cooper?"

Betty nods as she says, "Yes, sir."

Weatherbee stays silent as he meets all of their eyes. After a moment just long enough to become uncomfortable he speaks. "Here's what we're going to do. Mr. Blossom, you're going to have detention after school for a week for pushing a fellow student and saying crude things about Miss Cooper here. Mr. Jones, you will be serving a Saturday detention in the library this weekend. Normally, violence is an immediate suspension of a week but I am willing to make an exception for the provocation you received."

"What? That's totally unfair," Jason spits out, looking irritated. "He's the one who punched me!"

"Yes, and he's admitted it," Principal Weatherbee says. "And he admitted it freely with the reasons why while you, Mr. Blossom, seem to have left out some pertinent details to your side of the story."

Jason huffs, leaning back into his chair.

"Miss Cooper has never given me a reason to think she'd be anything less than truthful, Mr. Blossom. I can't say the same for you right now, now can I?" Weatherbee questions with a disappointed expression. "You're all dismissed, go back to class."

Taking Betty's hand to help her up, he goes to lead her out of the office when he hears Weatherbee say, "I don't want to see you in here again, Mr. Jones."

Rolling his eyes at that, he walks out ahead of Betty as Jason pushes past them with a pissed off look on his face.

"That could have been worse," he tells her, squeezing her fingers as they walk.

"True. I can't believe Jason went in there and tried to act like you attacked him out of nowhere."

"I can. You know if you hadn't been you, I'd probably be expelled right now, right?"

"What?" Betty replies, looking shocked. "But you were provoked!"

"Betts, Weatherbee only let me off with Saturday detention because of who you are, not because I was slightly justified in my reaction to Jason's dickishness."

He sees her free hand start to curl in on itself in irritation and he grabs it, kissing her palm without stopping their trek back to class. "I haven't seen you do this in weeks."

"I'm trying keep myself in the moment so I don't unconsciously do it," she tells him. "I think I'm going to try and talk to my mom about therapy again."

"If you need anything, you'll tell me won't you?" he asks, concerned.

"Of course, Jug."

* * *

"What do you mean you can't ride with me?" Jughead angrily questions Sweet Pea. "I need you by my side!"

"Look, Jug, part of the deal is one Serpent to one Ghoulie, to keep the funny business in check or something according to Malachi."

"So who am I supposed to get with no notice? And why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I thought you knew, man. What about your girl? She seems to know what she's-"

"Absolutely not. That is not happening. I am not putting her in the car while racing, I can't believe you would even suggest that, Sweets. Do you think I would be able to even concentrate with her in the car in that sort of situation? I would-"

"I can do it," Archie interrupts, startling Jughead.

"Where did you come from?!" Jughead almost shouts at him. "How do you even know about this?"

Looking guilty, Archie's eyes swing to an irritated looking Veronica who was berating Betty as she stood there trying to calm her down.

Seeing the stress on Betty's face, Jughead walks quickly over to where she's standing and wraps a protective arm around her.

"How did you even find her, Veronica?" he asks, glaring at her for upsetting Betty.

"Are you kidding me?" Raising an eyebrow at him, she crosses her arms and glares back at him. "You take my best friend to some illegal imitation Grease style drag race and expect me to be fine with it?"

"No," Betty says softly, "which is why I didn't tell you about it, V. How did you find me?"

"We both know I track your phone so I know you've gotten home safe when you're staying late at the school, Betty-Bee. I worry about you."

Shoulders slumping slightly, Betty nods. "I know."

"Archie here offered to ride with me, Veronica. Are you not worried about him?" Jughead deflects the attention from Betty as best as he can when he sees her looking irritated.

"Archibald?"

"Full naming me, Ronnie?" Archie asks, shooting her what Jughead assumes is a charming smile that has probably gotten him out of trouble plenty times with her. "Jughead needs a passenger that's not a Serpent and I offered to help him out."

"Why would you do that?"

"Ronnie, if I don't, we both know Betty is going to try and get in that car-"

"Hey!" Betty shouts at him.

"It's true, Betts, and you know it. And we both know I am not letting you anywhere near that car. You'll break my concentration just by sitting there," Jughead says to her, pressing a kiss to the side of her head as she grumbles in resigned acceptance.

"Fine," Veronica finally says, staring hard at Jughead. "But if he so much as comes back with even one ginger hair out of place, I will come for you, Jughead Jones. Is that clear?"

Widening his eyes at her ferocity he swallows before saying, "Very clear."

"Great. Good luck, Archiekins!" she exclaims with a kiss to his cheek.

Telling Betty he'll see her after the race he kisses Betty, getting distracted by her lips for a moment before being pulled out of it by a familiar voice.

"Jones! Who on earth is this and why have I never seen her before?"

Letting his head fall back at Betty's giggle he just slumps for a second before turning to Toni walking his way.

"Toni, Veronica Lodge. Veronica, Toni Topaz," he introduces, gesturing to each girl. "You should have so much to talk about, mainly your love of torturing _me_."

Toni rolls her eyes at him as she says hello to Betty. Turning back to Veronica she sticks out a hand and says, "Hello, Veronica Lodge, I'm Jughead's tormentor, how do you know Jughead?"

Veronica shakes her hand with a smile. "Nice to meet you, Toni Topaz. I'm always happy to meet a kindred spirit."

Jughead sees where this is going and starts to pull on Archie. "Come on man, you don't need to see her pull out way more game than you've ever had in your life."

Archie is staring at the girls chatting away with big eyes. "No, no, I think I want to see this."

Laughing at him, he pulls on his jacket harder. "Nah, you don't. Trust me. At minimum it's emasculating and at most, you end up single. Let's go."

* * *

He can feel the speed of the car under him as the engine revs and it brings a smile to his face as he pushes harder on the pedal, leading Malachi to the bridge before the turn to lead them back to the start.

Jughead is staring straight ahead on his goal when he hears Archie yelling at him. Snapping out of it, he looks at where Archie is pointing. Slamming on the brakes as Malachi hits the bridge first he turns the car around and heads back to the start, hearing the sirens of the police cars that had stopped the Ghoulie leader to take him into custody.

The tires squeal as he brings the car to a sharp stop, getting out and running up to Sweet Pea, pushing him. "Was it you?! Did you call the cops, man?"

Sweet Pea looks as shocked as Jughead felt and starts shaking his head, turning around and yelling for everyone to split before the cops get there. He loses track of Sweet Pea as he runs off to grab Toni and bolt, Archie running for Veronica to get into what he knows is his dad's truck, jumping in and leaving with the rest of them.

He can't find Betty and he's starting to yell her name, worried about where she went when he hears the revving of an engine behind him. Spinning around, he sees Betty in the driver's seat of the car he was just in.

"Need a ride, Juggie?" she asks sweetly.

Jumping into the car he slams the door just as she gives it the gas, throwing him back into his seat as he grabs for the seat belt, clicking it into place as she spins the car around with precision.

He's watching her focus on the road, the smooth way she changes gears as she deftly moves in and out of traffic with concentration, not so much as sparing him a glance. Jughead can't help but think she's unbearably sexy at that moment as he hoarsely tells her to go back to his place.

Staying silent and focused, she just nods her head and drives them home.

* * *

He's barely got her in the door before he's pushing her up against a wall, over to the couch, kissing her deeply as he runs hands up her back and flexing his fingers into her sides and hips and hair as they struggle to move without detaching from each other.

Eventually they make it to the sofa and Betty pulls back, sitting a little too demurely for a girl who just had her hand somewhere south of his waistband she's trying to catch her breath as she asks, "What happened back there?"

Panting he replies, "I don't know, Betty. Someone called the cops and Archie saw them before I did, so I let Malachi get ahead of me so they'd get them and not us."

Slumping back into the cushions he looks over at her, seeing her sitting next to him, worryingly chewing her lip.

"It sounds like someone set you up."

"Yeah," he agrees, "We just need to find out who."

Still watching her, she seems to make a decision and is talking herself into going through with it.

"I should probably head home, then. I can call and ask Kevin if he's heard his dad talking about the Ghoulies, see what info we can get."

The words are out of his mouth before he realizes it as he lays a hand on her thigh. "Stay. You should stay."

* * *

 _ **Day Sixty**_

 _It's the third time that week Jughead's woken from a dream involving a very naked (he assumes his imagination has nothing on the real thing but his brain is being good to him with what he's seeing at night) Betty Cooper doing things to him he didn't even think he knew existed until his subconscious told him all about them._

 _Sitting up, sweating and panting, he looks down and grimaces. If he has to wash his sheets any more this week, his dad is going to start to notice, he's sure._

 _Laying back and running a hand through his hair, he thinks about the dream. It wasn't so much that she was naked and on top of him, no, that was nice but the whispered words of how much she wants him, how she loves him, how she wants to be with him is what ends up taunting him all that day. He can't concentrate at all for the entire day. He tries to make her blush at lunch, tries to make her laugh in the library. Tries to make her smile that smile he considers his in the Blue and Gold after school._

 _He'd decided that morning to ask her out but could never form the words and as he makes his way home and into the trailer, the only thought he still has after the day he'd had is that he's even more determined to ask her out the next day._

 _Less than a minute later he hears the knock on the door that will change everything._

 _Everything but the fact that he loves Betty Cooper._

* * *

 **A/N: Happy Friday, y'all!**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Day Sixty One**_

 _Jughead manages to hold himself together until he knows for sure Betty is gone from the library after forcing himself to break her heart. Telling himself it's for her own good, it's going to keep her safe, that that's what's most important he gets up and heads to a dark corner in the stacks he thinks are most unlikely to be visited out of nowhere he drops his bag on the ground and lets the tears fall._

 _He's trying to keep from crying out, trying to keep his breathing even as the sobs wrack his body he lets his forehead fall to one of the shelves, clenching his fists in frustrated anger. The lump in his throat can't quite be swallowed enough to keep himself in control as he turns around and slides to the floor, letting his fists rest on his knees, head tilted back against the books, his tears making their way down his face as he closes his eyes._

 _Biting his lips, still trying to stay quiet he exhales loudly, thinking he's finally done sobbing on the floor, he lets out a broken whisper of "I'm so sorry, Betty."_

 _As he's about to stand up after wiping the wetness from his cheeks, hoping no one looks at him until it looks like he hasn't been crying he feels the sobs overtaking him one more time as he slides back to floor, holding his head this time as the tears come again and he decides to just let himself cry until he can't anymore._

 _He misses two classes that day._

* * *

If someone were to ask Jughead Jones what one of his favorite memories is, he'll look them straight in the face and lie to their face. He's not going to share with anyone that his favorite memory involves a lapful of Betty Cooper on his father's sofa in a trailer on the wrong side of town, the straps of her shirt pulled down with the lace of her bra teasing his sanity as he runs a thumb across a hardened nipple, making Betty moan into the skin of his neck as she grabs fistfuls of his hair, pulling on it until he's the one groaning into the quiet of the living room.

Pushing himself forward he moves until he can gently bite down her neck, laying soft kisses across the tops of her breasts, his hands pulling on her shirt until it's tangled around her waist with her pretty pink bra so he can press a palm against each breast, feeling the weight of them as his kisses move lower until he's taking a nipple into his mouth, gently sucking on one before moving to the other. Betty is squirming in his lap, her fingers moving through his hair still, holding his head in place before moving to his shoulders and grabbing at his own shirt, her desire for him to take it off made clear without the words.

Leaning back from her to grab his shirt by the collar at the back of his neck, he tugs it off and tosses it to the floor before moving back to her breasts, pulling on the shirt and bra around her waist, trying to get them up and over her head. Failing at it, she giggles and stands, taking them off by lowering them from her hips and letting them fall to her feet. Staring at him and biting her lip, she starts to unbutton her jeans, only getting one undone before he's reaching out and stilling her hand.

She looks at him confused and a little apprehensive. "You don't want me to?"

Unable to take his eyes away from her, he slips a finger under the edge of her waistband, pulling her firmly to him. "I want to do it."

"Oh."

Standing up, he picks her up with a grin and heads to his bedroom, leaving the clothes they had already taken off on the floor. Getting through the door with only a little trouble, he gently tosses her on the bed, his smile growing as she lands and bounces with a quiet yelp. She's on her back, leaning up on her elbows with a bright smile for him when he remembers the first time he knew for sure he loved her.

 _It was like any other day as he was walking down the hall on his way to hopefully catch Betty before class when he heard her laugh, putting a smile on his face. He didn't even have to see her to know who it was and he suddenly remembered something he overheard Toni's grandpa tell her once; that the most important thing to remember about loving someone is that it's both the most selfish and unselfish thing that she'll ever do._

 _There's no part of him, he decides in that moment, that wants Betty to be unhappy but it's fighting with the part of him that only wants her to be happy with him._

 _That tug of war in his mind, the desire for them both to be happy with the same outcome is the only thing he can think of as he stands and stares at her once he sees her with Veronica, laughing loudly in the hall._

 _Her bright eyes and happy smile as she hugs her book to herself, leaning against what he realizes is his locker, she's makes a beautiful picture he thinks he never wants to stop looking at. As she turns and sees him, her smile getting bigger before waving to him the only thought that keeps repeating is, I love that girl._

"What?" Betty asks, knocking him out of his thoughts and he realizes he's been staring at her and saying nothing for just a little too long.

Jughead bites back his nerves and smiles at her. "I was just thinking about how much I love you."

She sits up quickly, the bouncing of her breasts distracting him and he thinks her say, "What did you say?"

"Hmm?" Looking at her, seeing her eyes are wide and she seems totally unaware of just how much skin she's teasing him with.

"Jughead! Stop staring at my tits and answer me!"

"I said I love you," he tells her, looking into her eyes. "I love you, Betty. I feel like I always have."

He can see her smile wobble slightly as she starts blinking rapidly, seemingly trying to keep herself from crying.

Moving until she's on her knees she reaches out for him, taking his hand in hers and holding it to heart, pressing his palm flat against her chest. "I love you too, Jug."

Jughead starts laughing and leans his head into the crook of her neck as he brings his arms around her to bring them skin to skin.

"What's so funny?" she asks, trying to wiggle out of his grip.

Catching his breath he stands back up, letting his knees rest against the edge of his mattress as he smiles at her. "You said tits."

When Betty rolls her eyes at him, he starts laughing all over again until he feels her hands on his shoulders and then she's pulling him back with her, both landing on the rumpled blue and gray sheets of his bed.

"Seriously?"

Shaking with more laughter, he can't help just nodding at her as she looks _almost_ amused. Putting his weight on his arms he holds himself up over her once he gets his control back. Tracking his eyes from her face down the waist of the jeans she's still wearing, deciding the best way to take them off. Moving closer to her, he pushes her jaw to the side with the bridge of his nose, edging kisses down her throat and onto her breasts, taking the time to pay attention to each nipple, making her squirm with each gentle suck and nip.

When he's halfway down her stomach he decides to follow her sides over her ribs, mouthing soft bites over her rib cage before going past her belly button to where the button of her pants have been taunting him for what he feels like is forever.

Taking the bit of denim holding the button between his teeth he pulls it until it comes free and he hears Betty suck in a breath, goosebumps popping up over her abdomen where his fingers had been following his mouth in slow circles, getting lower and lower with each pass. When his hands get to her hips, he grips them tightly with both hands as looks up at her as he then takes the zipper tab between his teeth as well, pulling it down, the soft clicks of the metal teeth coming apart slowly as he moves down seem to make her breathing heavier, her eyes struggling to stay open to watch his progress.

Placing his thumbs through the belt loops sitting on her hip bones, he holds the denim tightly as he takes the zipper all the way down. Pulling his thumbs to the sides, the fabric opens, revealing the sweetly scented skin of her abdomen and the very top of the lacy edge of her panties. Running the tip of his tongue along the lace, he feels Betty's legs twitch, wanting to either go around him or kick him away he doesn't know.

Pressing an open mouth kiss to the softest skin he thinks he's ever felt, he tugs on her jeans, working them down and over her hips going as far as he can until he has to sit up on his knees to pull them down her thighs as she tries to help kick them off once he gets them to her calves. His fingers end up tickling the backs of her knees and she starts to giggle as she kicks the pants off, almost sending him off of the bed and onto the floor of his bedroom.

"Are you ticklish, Betty?" he asks, dragging the tips of his fingers up and under her knees along to the inside of her thighs.

She's covering her face as she's biting back laughter, shaking her head no as she peeks through her fingers to look at his face.

"Liar," he whispers to her, pushing her thighs apart as he lays between them.

He can feel the friction of his jeans against himself as he leans further up to kiss her, moving his hands up to the sides of her neck so he can hold onto her jaw, moving it whichever way he pleases as he laves kisses across her cheeks, her neck, her collarbone until she's wrapped her legs around him. Squirming into his hold, she only succeeds in moving herself further up the mattress as he follows.

"Jug," she murmurs to him, trying to hold onto his shoulders to keep him still.

Using the leverage he gets when he manages to grip her jawbone, the pad of his left thumb firm under it, pushing her head back as he bites his way down her neck once more.

"Yes, Betty?" he finally asks, lifting himself off of her so he can look down at her.

"Jug-" she whines out, pushing bare toes against the waistband of his own jeans. Unsure how or when she got her socks off he smirks at her, reaching down to pop open his own button while trying to push the denim down one handed. He feels the fabric start to move and twists his head to look down the length of his own body, seeing Betty push his pants off of his hips using just her toes, the pretty pink of her polish contrasting brightly with the black of his jeans. Kicking off his boots before he stands all the way up and off the bed to finish taking off his pants, he yanks his socks off, shoving everything behind him with a foot, his eyes never leaving her face as she stares at him through her lashes.

"Can I help you, Betty?" he asks as she continues to stare at him.

She smirks at him. "No, just watching you is doing wonders for me."

"Just watching?"

"Mmhmm," she says. "If you have a better idea, though, I'm open to suggestions."

Jughead smiles at her before squinting a little as he considers her. "You got a smart mouth, you know that right?"

"Yeah? You gonna do something about it?" she questions with a smile, crooking her finger to beckon him back onto the bed with her.

Shaking his head at her, amused, he crawls back over her, resting his hips against hers as he grinds himself into the apex of her thighs. Betty's breath catches on a moan as she brings her legs around him, locking her ankles behind his lower back to keep him in place.

"Worried I'm going somewhere?"

Betty raises an eyebrow at him. "Should I be?"

"Why would I want to go anywhere when everything I want is right here?"

She shoves his face to the side with her palm gently. "Ugh, you're so cheesy, it's like you have a quota you have to meet or something."

"You love it," he tells her with a smug grin.

"You'd think that but no," she responds and he glares at her before sticking his face where the curve of her neck meets her shoulder, mouthing on it, using the barely there roughness of the stubble on his face from the day, making her try and twist out of his grip.

"Juggie!" she exclaims, pinching his side and making him jump.

Breathing heavily, he leans back down, pressing soft kisses to the reddened skin, murmuring his apologies to her neck as she giggles at his absurdity.

Taking advantage of her distraction, he pushes his hips into her, causing her eyes to find his and her fingers to grip him tighter. Squeezing him with her thighs, he does it again, trying to gauge her reaction with each push.

"Do you like that?" he asks lowly, doing it again.

Nodding, she just stares at him, the plush and swollen lips of her mouth making a small o in anticipation.

He keeps thrusting against her, the heat of her seeping through to the fabric of his boxers. Her fingers are flexing on his shoulder blades as the muscles in his back contract with each push and pull against her. Resting his head next to hers he smells the scent of her shampoo and inhaling deeply, he loses concentration as he's tossed into another memory, not realizing he's begun to thrust harder against her, making her body jolt with each movement.

 _It was the first time he'd seen her with her hair down, walking up to him as he waits for her outside the Blue and Gold office. He can't stop staring, the idea of his very own Hitchcock blonde taunting him as the light reflects off the shiny strands. Holding open the door for her she walks by him and he catches the somehow both sweet and spiced scent of her hair and he tells himself that he needs to control himself, vowing not to bury his nose into her hair, inhaling her addictive scent until someone, probably Veronica, has to peel him off of her._

Betty's harsh panting brings him back into reality and he pulls himself back to look at her, eyes apologetic.

"I'm sorry."

"What? Why?" she asks him in confusion, her glazed expression reassuring him that she was enjoying herself.

"For getting a little rough," he tells her in a slightly timid voice.

She scoffs at him. "You think that's rough?"

"Betty-"

"I'm not going to break, Jughead," she interrupts. Using her legs for leverage she tightens and turns him with her thighs until he's flat on his back and she's straddling his hips, both breathing heavy from the movement, her challenging him with her eyes and him staring at her with wonder.

Clearing his throat as he holds onto her hips he says, "I think I might, though."

"Aw, Jug, are you fragile?"

"Like porcelain, Betts," he tells her, pulling her hips and sliding her against him, making her fall forward with a laugh. "A delicate flower petal, even."

"Poor baby, it must be so _hard_ to be you," she coos at him, grinding herself down on him.

"It is," he chokes out. "It really is."

She's sitting up straight, rolling her hips into his as she grabs his hands and intertwines their fingers so she can hold onto him for stability. With each pass, her breathing gets heavier, her eyelashes fluttering as she's struggling to keep her eyes open and he's counting backwards from one hundred and thinking about the time he walked in on Sweet Pea in the shower to keep himself from shooting off before he manages to ever even get inside of one Betty Cooper.

Not that he thinks he has the right to expect anything of the sort. He just really, really _hopes_ it happens.

He's staring at her as she moves, her hips rolling even faster with each pass, her breathing getting choppy as she squeezes his hands and lets her head fall back. Looking up at the long line of her throat, he follows it down past her breasts to the soft lines of her stomach where he can see the muscles on her sides contracting each time she moves, the sweetly rounded softness of the skin right above the waist of her panties tempting him into almost letting go of her hand so he could stroke his fingers across it and watch the goosebumps he thinks would form pebble across her skin.

That image isn't doing him any favors so he tries to think about anything other than the appeal of the girl writhing on top of him, if for no other reason than to save some of his pride.

Jughead is pulled out of his attempt at distracting himself when Betty tightens her thighs against his sides, the rest of her twitching as she moans loudly and falls forward onto him. He can feel the slightly damp skin of her forehead on his chest as he looks at the top of her head, bewildered.

"Did you just…?"

The movement of her head on his chest is, he thinks, her nodding her agreement. The heavy breathing against his skin and the bonelessness of the rest of her both captivates and amuses him.

"Uh, not to sound insecure or anything, Betty," he says to her, "but was I even necessary here or-"

The slap of her hand on his chest stops him mid-sentence.

"Of course you were, Jughead," she murmurs, finally looking at him, her cheek on his chest as he admires the pink flush of her skin. "I might have fallen off the bed otherwise."

Glaring at her snarky response, he thrusts his hips up into her, making her squirm and try to crawl up his body with a squeak.

"Jug!"

"That's what you get," he tells her, smirking at her wide eyes.

Narrowing her eyes at him, she slides herself down slightly, just enough to make his breath catch, causing him to forget everything except the blonde girl smiling at him as she sees his eyes glaze over, his train of thought completely forgotten. Licking her lips, he almost forgets to breathe as she tilts her head to nip at the flat nipple on his chest, the sensation shooting through him, making him twitch and grab at the bundled sheets on the bed.

"Did you like that?" she asks him, doing it again before he can answer. Moving to the other one and nipping it as well, she starts to slide down his front, running her tongue along the lines of his stomach, pressing open mouthed kisses intermittently until she's resting her chin at the elastic of his boxers, looking up at him innocently and plucking at the waistband, silently asking if she can take them down.

"Yeah," he finally gets out as she works the fabric down his hips and from under him, sitting up and pulling them off his legs, tossing them to the floor with the rest of their clothes. Settling on her knees between his thighs, she's looking down at him with a calculating look in her eye.

He doesn't know if that thrills or terrifies him.

Betty seems to come to a decision right before she crawls over him, the tips of her breast dragging across his skin, making all of his nerve endings jump at once, his abdomen convulsing, fists clenching, and legs trying to pull up as she reaches his face, kissing him deeply. Before he knows what's happening, she's already settled back onto her knees between his legs once more, biting her lip and looking slightly nervous.

"Betty?" he whispers and she looks up at him. "What-"

He's cut off as she wraps her hand around him, causing him to groan instead. Determination on her face, he almost springs off the bed when he sees her lean down and take him into her mouth.

He doesn't know if you're supposed to get a warning before someone does that just to save people from having actual heart attacks but he thinks he could have used one. The hot wet warmth of her mouth has him muttering and moaning things he's not sure of, a hand going into her hair, fingers tangling into it and pulling slightly. The tug on her hair makes her moan around him and he jolts a bit, making her grip him firmer.

That makes him push his hips a little higher, pushing himself further into her mouth and he can feel the heat of the back of her throat as he fists the sheet with his other hand because he may not know much about this but he's aware enough to know that choking a woman while she's got her mouth on you is only warranted if she asks for it.

The pressure of her pulling back as she moves up and down on him has him flying off somewhere in his own head of pleasure and he knows that if he doesn't stop her soon, he's going to end up done long before he wants to be. Trying to gather all of his willpower to open his mouth and use the brain he's only currently partially certain he was born with to speak, he only manages to choke on the words as her tongue runs a circle around the tip of him and then down in a line on the underside and he knows he's got maybe t-minus thirty seconds before detonation.

Giving it everything he has as a last ditch effort, he barely gets out the whispered, "Betty."

He doesn't think she hears him because she keeps moving, taking him closer and closer with each pass and he finally has to tighten his fingers and hold his hand still to stop the movements of her head.

When she lets go of him and lifts her head to look at him, he almost groans at her swollen lips as she uses the back of her hand to wipe her chin off.

"What's wrong?" she asks, almost timidly.

Jughead shakes his head at her. "Nothing. Trust me, nothing about any of that was wrong."

"Then what-"

Using the last of what might be left of his sanity, he sits up and twists them both around until she's on her back, wide eyed and confused as he leans over her. Kissing her, he holds onto the sides of her face as he slips his tongue into her mouth and across hers, pulling at her bottom lip, biting it gently before letting it go, he moves down until he can put her legs over his shoulders, watching her face as she realizes what he's doing.

"What -Jughead- what are you doing?"

"Shhhh," he hushes her, slipping his thumbs under the edges of her panties along the creases of her thighs, sliding into wet heat of her, causing her to moan and throw her head back. His own breath hitches as he pulls them to one side to look at her for the first time.

Her legs try to close while he's staring at her but he uses his forearms to keep them from closing around his head.

"Jug," Betty whines at him, the anxiousness clear in her voice.

"You're beautiful, Betty," he says, meeting her eyes over the lines of her body. "Every part."

Leaning into her he softly kisses her inner thigh, giving her some time to get used to him being down there. Rubbing his thumbs along her slit, he slips and hits her clit at the same time he chooses to bite the smooth skin of her thigh, making her back arch as a moan falls from her lips, her hands finding his hair and grabbing onto it.

"Did you like that?" he murmurs into her thigh, running his tongue over the slight bite mark he left behind.

When she doesn't answer him right away, he does it again on the other thigh. Continuing to rub feather light circles over her clit he sucks gently over the second barely there bite mark.

"Answer me, Betty," he commands.

"Juggie-"

Applying a little bit of pressure with his thumbs he says, "Betty."

"Yes," she groans out. "Oh- oh god, yes, okay?"

"Was that so hard?"

"Yes," she whimpers out, tightening the grip she has on his hair.

Smirking to himself he takes a steadying breath and swallows his nerves as he flicks his tongue out for the first time across the oh so soft skin, almost moaning into her as his tongue slips into her. Sliding it up to run across her clit and replace his thumbs, he barely catches her leg with an arm before she clocks him across the temple as she almost rolled into herself, the volume at which she called his name into the silence of the room lost with the taste of her in his mouth.

Wrapping one arm around her leg to hold her in place, he places his hand flat across her stomach, pressing down just enough for her to stay put with, her low gasp letting him know she likes it.

Working on instinct, he decides to suck her clit gently, using a little more pressure than he'd been using with the flat of his tongue and he feels her back arch again as she cries out, her muscles twitching and hips rolling. The leg he hasn't been holding down bends next to his head and he thinks he should be wary of it, Betty's legs are nothing to be taken lightly after all, but all she does is press a foot on his free wrist, pushing it down a bit.

Confused, he stops. "What's wrong?"

"Jug-" she cuts herself off, trying to push herself back into his face. "Jug, come on."

"Betty?"

With an almost irritated sounding groan she barely misses kicking him when she pushes his hand with her foot again.

"Use it," she demands, covering her face with her free hand, twisting her hips to the side in what he thinks might be desperation.

Trying not to be too smug over her reactions to him, he takes a guess at what she means and slips one finger into her as he works her with his tongue. Sliding both his finger and tongue back and forth, he can feel her getting wetter as she writhes around, trying to seemingly suffocate and kick him at the same time. Smiling into her center he moves a little faster just to see what she'll do and when her hips pop off the bed and the heel of her foot lands a little too hard in the middle of his back, he grunts lowly but keeps going.

Betty is mumbling incoherently as she keeps moving, his free hand putting more pressure on her stomach to try and keep her still. He thinks taking a knee to the head might take out some of the fun he's having and he _really_ doesn't want to explain a possible concussion that would have taken place between his girlfriend's legs.

With each pass, he can feel her muscles contract, her breathing getting heavier, and her little moans of his name interspersed with mumbles of _yes_ and _oh god_ and _please_ and he knows she's getting close. Taking a chance, he slides another finger into her as he sucks on her clit again and it sends her over the edge with a loud cry and Betty trying to curl her legs into herself as she pushes at his head, trying to make him move. He slows down but doesn't move away from her until she's flat on her back and panting, an arm over her face and the sheen of sweat covering her body hitting the light just right, making her appear to glow in all of his favorite places.

Sitting up and on his knees, he smirks as he tugs down the panties he'd left on and only pulled to the side. Pulling them off her hips and over her legs, he uses them to wipe his mouth off as he looks at her.

"Really?" Betty asks, out of breath but coherent enough to see what he'd done.

"What?" he replies. "They're already wet." Shrugging off her incredulous look, he tosses them over his shoulder as he lays himself over her, kissing her temple and inhaling deeply as he shoves his nose into her hair.

"Do you have any-"

He pulls up to look down at her, confused. "Any what?"

Betty bites her lip with a shy smile. "You know...condoms? Unless you don't want to, which is fine, I mean, we don't have to-"

He interrupts her with a kiss. "Of course I want to, I just wasn't _expecting_ to."

"So you don't have any?"

Shaking his head, he tells her, "No, I do, I wanted to be prepared but only when you were ready and you know, if we got that far or if you wanted to, which, you totally don't have to-"

She shuts him up with a kiss this time as they laugh into each other's mouths.

Breaking away from him she asks, "Where are they?"

"Drawer," he says, reaching over her to open the little drawer in the table next to the bed. Pulling out the foil packet, he shows it to her with a grin.

"You look so proud," she informs him.

"I am," he replies, sitting up and on his knees. "Betty Cooper is letting me touch her, I'm the luckiest bastard alive right now."

She laughs and covers her face with both hands. "You're so ridiculous, Jug."

"Maybe," he says with a lift of one shoulder as she finally looks at him. Turning serious, he's intent when he asks, "Are you sure?"

Betty smiles at him softly. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Nodding at her, he rips open the condom to roll it on himself before settling back between her legs.

"Ready?" he questions, reaching between them, meeting her hand moving down as well.

"Mmhmm," she answers, putting her hand over his, to help him with his slow slide into her for the first time.

Jughead hears her suck in a sharp breath and looks at her quickly to make sure she's okay. Even though she smiling, there's a slight grimace behind it. She shakes her head at him, pulling her legs tighter around him as if she thinks he's going to try and pull away from her. Her legs locked around him pushes him further into her without much warning and then there's nothing but heat and Betty and a tight feeling that he will never be able to describe.

Staying still even though his body is screaming at him to move he waits until she starts wiggling a bit and he finally pulls himself back slowly before sinking back into her.

He gauges her face for a reaction with each thrust before going a little faster. "Is this okay?"

A whispered yeah is the only answer he gets before he lets a low moan go into the skin of her neck as he struggles to concentrate, lowering his forehead to her shoulder. With a hand gripping the back of his neck and the the other trailing across his spine, he's shuddering as he's trying to maintain a sense of control. He wants to make this good for her.

He _needs_ to make this good for her.

The push and pull of sliding in and out of her has him trying to keep his breathing even though all he wants to do is bury himself in her and stay there. When he feels her body relax more and more, he starts a faster rhythm, a hand going into her hair, pulling her head to the side so he can press a line of kisses along the line of her throat, making her whimper as she throws her head to the side fully, fingers flexing against him with a murmur of _faster_ as she tightens her legs around him.

A contraction of muscles in his abdomen, the tingles running along his spine, the pressure of release, they're all building inside of him the few seconds before he comes, the entire experience like knowing you're about to free fall in the best way possible as he tenses and then relaxes with a moan of her name, a reverent whisper against her chest and he can't think of a better experience or person to have his first time with.

"I really do love you," he mumbles into the top of her breasts, making her shake slightly with laughter.

"I'm not sure your judgment can be trusted right now," she tells him, running her fingers through his hair as they calm their breathing.

Jughead shakes his head side to side against her. "No, Betty, sex with you is like the best gift ever on top of the best Christmas ever on top of finding out you're getting free burgers for life." He's not sure that makes much sense but it's how he feels. "But just having you? It's the best thing in the world, there's not a thing that can top this. I thought I was going to die when I had to watch you with Jason."

"Well," she says to him, putting a finger under his chin to make him meet her eye, "I only really wanted you, you know. And I love you too. I don't think I can ever stop."

* * *

 _ **Day Ninety Three**_

 _He's had to watch Jason Blossom sit next to her for the last couple of weeks now and every time he sees it, his gut burns with jealousy and anger. Maybe he's hurt too, but he knows he has no right to those feelings after what he's done to Betty. He wants to stop staring at her but he can only look at her now when he knows there's no chance of her looking back at him and Jason seems to have her entire attention during lunch each day._

 _The idea, the mere thought of him kissing her, touching and holding her when Jughead thinks it should be him is something he's having a hard time not putting his fist through Jason's face for. It's the worst sort of base behavior and he can't control it, he wants to hold her hand and kiss her pretty face, and have her laugh for him, and smile his way again like she used to._

 _He knows he doesn't deserve it. But, god, does he want it._

 _The whisper of the possibility of being Betty Cooper's anything makes it all so much worse when he realizes he had it, it was his, she wanted to kiss him, wanted him to hold her hand, make her laugh, and smile just for him. He's the one who threw it away, not her. Knowing the reasons for it, the justification he's created in his head doesn't take away the pain of watching the girl you love smile for someone else._

 _Standing up, he roughly turns from the table he was at, walking quickly to the doors of the school. Jughead knows what the burning in his eyes means and he knows where he can be alone until the end of lunch._

 _Crying alone in the library might make him a loser to some but he's already lost everything he wanted, the least he can do is keep his pride and not let anyone see him do it._


	8. Chapter 8

_**Day One Hundred**_

 _Day ninety-nine is the day Jughead decides he's going to get his girl back. The fact that she was never truly his girl is just details. Toni might slap him upside the head for it and Veronica definitely would, but to him, Betty is **his** girl._

 _He wants her smiles and her attention. Her hands on his body and her heart to protect and her love to keep for himself. It's incredibly selfish, he knows, but when he dreams at night, the colors of it seem to be shades of Betty Cooper. He also knows, if Sweet Pea ever heard him say that he'd never live it down. So, that one'll just stay between him and the sheets he keeps having to wash._

 _Betty had helped him with his motorcycle that day and he's had no idea she knew so much about mechanics. The image of her in her little overalls, with her pretty hair on the top of her head as she fixed his bike for him after all he'd done to her is one he thinks he's going to be revisiting for far longer than might be appropriate._

 _That night he starts to come up with a plan for Penny, one that won't fail so he can go after his girl and get the Serpents and Ghoulies to stop trying to take each other out._

 _Step one- get his girl back. No matter what she says, he's going to go for it, if he doesn't he'll never forgive himself. And if he gets to make Jason Blossom turn as red as his hair while he's doing it, well, that's all the better._

 _Step two- get rid of Penny Peabody. Before her, the Ghoulies were just useless and obnoxious, they were more like caricatures of what a gang looks like instead of what she turned them into. Drug running idiots with little self preservation and a lack of conscience. It's made for a dangerous combination._

 _Thinking about the next day and where to start his plan his last thought before falling asleep is he hopes he find Betty alone in the morning; the idea of trying to talk to her around Veronica makes him worry about being strangled with pearls as a pointed heel cuts an artery with him bleeding out before ever getting to tell Betty the truth._

* * *

"Do you know who called the cops?" Sweet Pea asks him, standing against the living room wall in Jughead's trailer a week after the race. "Who would set us up like that?"

"I don't know, man," Jughead responds, leaning back on the sofa, keeping an arm around a sleeping Betty next to him. Her hair was still messy and they definitely had what Sweet Pea called a "post-sex glow sweet enough to make him sick."

"You don't think it was any of the elders, do you?" Sweet Pea starts chewing on a fingernail before looking at him with a serious expression. "For instance, an elder who knew and disapproved of what you were doing?"

"Are you accusing my dad of calling Keller?" Jughead asks angrily, trying to stay quiet as to not wake Betty. "Do you really think he'd do that?"

Sweet Pea shrugs. "I don't know. I never thought I'd see the day you'd not only get a hot ass girlfriend who'd also end up popping your little beanie wearing cherry but here we are."

"Thanks, Sweet Pea," Betty mumbles sleepily, stretching before opening her eyes, smiling at Jughead.

"Anytime, doll," Sweet Pea tells her with a smirk, seemingly all too pleased with himself.

Jughead takes a deep breath to keep himself in check. "Sweets, go home."

"What?"

"Go home. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Scoffing, Sweet Pea stands up off the wall and makes his way to the front door. "Just, look man, I know you don't want to think about it being your dad but at least consider it."

Huffing out a sarcastic laugh, Jughead just shakes his head. "Sure, man. Sure."

The sound of the door closing has Betty sitting up and facing him. She pokes him in the shoulder with one of her little fingers and he grabs it, bringing it to his mouth and pressing a soft kiss to the tip of it before smiling at her again.

"What?"

Betty brings her knees further up under her on the cushion, moving so she can face him better. "I think I know who called the Sheriff and if I'm right, we're going to have a real problem."

He's trailing a hand up and down her arm. "Who do you think it was?"

She leans towards him, putting one of her hands on his face as she holds his jaw while she whispers in his ear.

Jughead pulls back from her in surprise at what she said.

* * *

Walking through the hallways that next week had been illuminating. Turns out, once Sheriff Keller got his hands on the Ghoulies, their house of cards seem to fall apart. The police had traced the Southside drug influx from the Ghoulies to a pipeline orchestrated by Clifford Blossom. If they had put any effort into hiding their dealings even slightly, there was a good chance they'd have never caught up to Clifford Blossom at all. His trafficking was well done, well concealed, and a well kept secret.

That is, until he got into bed with Penny Peabody to start taking over the Southside.

And, strangely, no one had seen Penny since right after the drag race that never really was. He'd watched Cheryl and Jason Blossom act like nothing was wrong and he hoped, sincerely for once when it came to them, that their lives weren't defined too closely by the corruption of their father.

Also no one knew how much they knew about the family business and that seemed to be the one thing that would always remain a mystery. Jughead wasn't even sure he wanted to know, truthfully. They had closed ranks and it looked like they intended on staying that way.

Pulled out of his thoughts by a chip hitting him in the forehead, he frowned at the person who threw it at him. "What?"

"Whatcha thinking about?" Archie asks, setting his chin on the palm of his hand, batting his eyelashes at him.

Jughead throws the chip back at him. "You're the worst Betty substitute ever."

Laughing, Archie reaches across the table, trying to hold his hand. "But, _Juggie_ -"

"No," he interrupts with a glare.

"Why not? Betty does it."

Jughead smirks. "Betty does a lot I'd never let you do."

Grimacing, Archie sits back up, pushing his lunch tray to the side. "And now I'm never eating again."

Reaching across the table to his abandoned sandwich, he grabs it and lifts it up, gesturing to himself. "Does that mean I can have this?"

"Go ahead, man."

Taking a bite, he puts his elbows on the tabletop asking around a mouth full of stolen sandwich, "Where are the girls, anyway?"

"According to Ronnie, and I quote," he says, pulling his phone out to read it, "tell Jughead that I stole Betty for nefarious lesbian purposes."

Choking on on what he was chewing, he takes the water bottle Archie hands to him. "Nefarious lesbian purposes?"

"I think she means she wanted Betty to try something on?" He looks at his phone, confused. "Ronnie's not gay, right?"

Jughead shrugs at him. "Probably a little."

Archie narrows his eyes as he thinks for a second before looking back up at Jughead. "Makes sense."

Before he's even done eating the rest of his sandwich he catches a flash of blonde and blue out of the corner of his eye. He thinks he hears Archie laughing at him from across the table but he can't pay attention to anything as he sees nothing but a vision of blonde ponytails and long golden legs wrapped in blue and gold with a triumphant Veronica leading the way.

"Guess who's a Vixen!?" Veronica almost screeches.

Archie just looks at Betty. "What about Cheryl?"

Veronica looks pleased with herself. "I just reminded her that people who live in glass maple houses of crazy shouldn't throw syrup bottles and before you know it, Betty is a River Vixen!"

He knows he looks stupid just staring at her, mouth slightly open. Archie is trying to stop from laughing again and Veronica raises her eyebrow with a knowing smile.

"So, Jughead," Veronica starts, "what do you think of Betty's new look?"

 _Words, Jughead, use your words,_ he keeps repeating to himself as he stares at Betty, pink cheeked and bright smile just for him.

He's got nothing.

Standing abruptly, Betty's startled by his sudden movement and takes a step back as he grabs her hand and practically pulls her back across the grounds and into the school. He knows a corner in the library that could have some better memories made there.

* * *

"You were right, Jones, these burgers are the best thing I've ever had," Toni tells him, her mouth full of food, a stark contrast to Betty who was wiping the slippery condensation off of her milkshake glass before taking a drink. "Hey, Coop, you gonna eat that?" Instead of waiting for an answer Toni reaches for the strawberry sitting on top of the whipped cream of her milkshake.

"Uh, no, go ahead," Betty says, gesturing to the cup.

"Toni, don't be a pig," Jughead says, leaning back into the vinyl of the booth. "Chew your food like I know your grandfather taught you."

He's pretty sure she said _fuck you, Jughead_ but it sounded more like _uckf ooo, yugheaf_. He shrugs it off, throwing her a glare as he reaches for Betty's hand under the table.

Swallowing her food, finally, Toni wipes her mouth and stares around Pop's. "So, this is where the Northsiders hang out?"

Betty nods. "Pop's is a Riverdale institution."

Toni smirks at her, like she's amused at just how adorable Betty is. Jughead knows the feeling. "Where's your other friends?"

Checking the time, Betty furrows her brow and pulls out her phone. "I don't know."

Settling an arm around her, he relaxes further into the booth, having eaten already and sitting with his friend and his girl, for the moment he's got precious little worry about. "Why don't you text Veronica?"

Before she finishes her text, he hears the door open, the bell ringing as the clicking of heels gives Veronica away before she almost shouts, "Betty-Bee, I am so sorry!"

"What happened?"

"Kevin and Archie are pushing his dad's truck, it broke down on the way here and I had to have Smithers come and get me," she huffs out, sitting dramatically next to Toni once she scooted over.

"You left Kevin and Archie to push that big old truck all the way here?" Betty asks with disbelief.

Veronica nods as she takes a fry off of Toni's plate, earning a glare until Veronica winked at her. Jughead almost laughs at how easy it is to distract Toni when it comes to women.

"V, that's-"

"Fine, it's fine is what it is, Bettykins," she interrupts. "I told Archie to push it here so you can look at it."

Jughead does laugh then.

"Veronica, I'm in a skirt," Betty says seriously. "I can't climb in that big truck engine with my back half out for the world to see!"

"Of course not," Jughead starts to tell her before he's cut off by Veronica's reassurance that she'll be fine and if anyone sees anything, they should feel privileged to see it. Jughead glares at her. "Veronica, I don't think so."

"It's nothing you haven't seen before, Jughead," she tells him, amused.

"Oh my god, Veronica," Betty mutters into her hands as they cover her face in mortification.

Jughead stiffens. "That's right, Veronica, me. I've seen it and I'd like to keep that number as low as possible if you don't mind. Stop trying to-"

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty," Toni interrupts.

"Fine," they both huff and sit back in their seats.

Betty looks between them bewildered. "Do I even want to know?"

"No," he tells her as Veronica reaches for Betty's milkshake, trying not to smile as she takes a drink, winking at him in victory.

She bet him one day that she could make him lose his cool at any given moment and he had laughed at her, he'd maintained himself well since transferring to Riverdale High. That was, of course, until the day when Veronica found the one button she could push with results every single time.

Betty.

So far the tally is Veronica beating Jughead by twenty-three points. He sighs. He's never going to catch up at this rate and it's only been a month.

Seeing the truck finally getting pushed into the parking lot of Pop's Betty climbs out and over him and if he thinks about asking her to check his motorcycle in that skirt later, he'll never admit it.

* * *

"Aren't you worried about when the Ghoulies get out of jail, Jug?" Betty asks him. She's been worried the entire time if she's being honest. With the drama of Clifford Blossom getting arrested and a missing Penny Peabody, she feels they're underestimating the threat of a group of pissed off Ghoulies.

"You know, I'm really not," Jughead tells her, pulling her closer to him on the sofa in his trailer. They'd been hanging out at his house more and more, her mother hovering over them just annoyed her and made Jughead nervous. He was convinced she could tell that he had slept with her daughter. On more than one occasion.

She's suddenly suspicious. "What did you do?"

Jughead pretending to be innocent looks like a puppy who knows he's guilty so she knows he did something immediately.

Wincing at her glare, he caves almost immediately. "So, if I was to tell you, after the fact, that my dad and I cut a deal with the older Ghoulies that didn't get picked up after the drag race, how mad would you be?"

"You what?" Her tone is serious. "And you kept this to yourself?"

He sighs loudly and slumps further into the sofa. "I was sworn to secrecy and then my dad bet money I couldn't last longer than a week without telling you, so really, I wasn't trying to keep it from you, I was trying to win a bet."

Rolling her eyes at him, she pokes his chest in irritation as she asks, "How long did you last?"

He pulls his phone out of his pocket and checks the time. "Uhm, almost sixteen hours."

She can't help the laugh that bubbles out of her. "You're ridiculous." Leaning against him again she plays with his fingers. "It's almost like you didn't even try."

Jughead huffs a laugh into her hair. "Do you remember the last time I withheld information from you?

She makes a small sound of agreement as she remembers it. He's lucky he survived that one.

 _Betty brings her knees further up under her on the cushion, moving so she can face him better. "I think I know who called the cops and if I'm right, we're going to have a real problem."_

 _He's trailing a hand up and down her arm. "Who do you think it was?"_

 _She leans towards him, putting one of her hands on his face as she holds his jaw while she whispers in his ear. "It was you."_

 _Jughead looks at her in surprise. "How'd you figure it out?"_

 _Narrowing her eyes at him she whacks him in the chest first. "How come you didn't tell me?!"_

 _"Betty," he says, intertwining his fingers with hers as she glares at him and pulls her hand free, "say it with me, "plausible deniability."_

 _"You jerk!"_

 _"Betty, baby-"_

 _"Don't you 'baby' me, Jones, I am going to-"_

 _He cuts her off with a kiss, pulling her into him, gripping the sides of her face as she yells into his mouth, him laughing at her indignation before she finally gives into the kiss, letting him deepen it before pushing back and crossing her arms as she stares at him._

 _"Explain."_

 _He sighs loudly and lays back on the sofa cushion, bringing her with him so she was laying against his chest. "Sweet Pea had the idea for the drag race, right?" He can feel her nod. "Penny betrayed the Serpents for the Ghoulies, remember? So, I decided that if she betrayed us, I could get Malachi to believe that she betrayed them as well."_

 _"So you called the cops to set up Penny Peabody?"_

 _"Mmhmm, Penny wasn't at the race. It wasn't very hard to convince Malachi that Penny called the cops, so that either way she'd win. If the Ghoulies get picked up, she can take over with the Serpents that went with her and if we got picked up, she'd have us off the board. No matter what it looks like she was set up to win."_

 _"So you set her up to fail?"_

 _Jughead nods, his chin moving up and down against her hair. "It wasn't too hard to get my dad on board after he found out about the race. It doesn't solve everything long term but it gives us room to breathe for awhile. And I don't want to know how they ran Penny out of town, I'm just glad she's gone."_

 _"You're not worried she's coming back?"_

 _She feels him tug her closer to him as he answers. "Honestly, even if she did, she burnt both of those bridges and if she's as smart as I know she is, she won't come back to Riverdale."_

 _"Let's hope so."_

"Feel like making it up to me in the same way you did then?" she asks, tugging on one of his suspenders.

He grins and laughs at her, standing up and pulling her with him. "I don't think you understand how punishments work, Betts."

"Oh, did you think you're getting something out of this?"

He groans. "Betty-"

"Bedroom, Forsythe."

* * *

 _ **Day Two Thousand One Hundred Eight**_

 _He's sitting across from Betty like he has hundreds of times before. He's been nervous before, like when he told her he wanted to follow her to college and needed her help to figure out the grants or loans he could get. She'd jumped with happiness and all of the thoughts of her laughing at him vanished._

 _He'd been nervous when he asked her to move in with him the second year of school, too. They were broke and struggling but each day that they got to come home to each other was worth it. The fights over which way to squeeze the toothpaste (he maintains that squeezing the middle is not, as Betty put it, creating a chaotic vortex in space and time where her sanity goes to die) and when they're supposed to do laundry. Who even has laundry days? Alice Cooper, that's who and Betty kept the habit much to his dismay. The burned dinners when he tried to cook for her and the tears the first time she messed up a big test. The ugly little sofa they bought just because it reminded them of his dad's and all the nights they spent on it._

 _They christened that one just as often as they had the one in the trailer._

 _A big fight over a Christmas tree that ended in laughing tears as Betty let go of her need for it to be perfect and they went home with the world's ugliest little Charlie Brown tree they could find. Veronica almost had a heart attack at the sight but seeing Betty relaxed for the first time during the holidays kept her mouth shut._

 _Archie playing the guitar at one in the morning, mournfully, on the nights Veronica kicked him out after a fight. They just put pillows over their faces and tried to muffle the laughter at Archie's Johnny Cash impression. The lost socks and lost shoes and lost hours within each other's bodies as they graduated college and got jobs, moved apartments, got better furniture and grew up together._

 _This, though. This is the most nervous he's ever been. She's staring at him, concerned._

 _"Are you alright, Juggie?"_

 _He nods, maybe a little too aggressively as she raises an eyebrow like she doesn't believe him. "I'm- I'm fine."_

 _She rolls her eyes at him. "Jug, just give me the ring, you know I'm going to say yes."_

 _"What if you say no, though? Wait, how do you know what I'm going to say?"_

 _Betty laughs. "Jughead, I love you, I want to marry you."_

 _"I love you too." He does a double take when he realizes what she said. "You do?"_

 _"I do."_

 _"Wait, no, I'm supposed to ask you. I practiced this, so I need you to hear it." He reaches for her hand and pops open the ring box he pulled out of his pocket, taking the ring and slipping it on her finger. "Elizabeth Cooper, will you marry me?"_

 _Betty starts laughing harder than before. "That's what you practiced?"_

 _"Like you wouldn't believe."_

 _"Okay, okay. How about we do it together?" she questions, a bright smile on her face. "Jughead Jones, will you marry me?"_

 _"So, we're saying we want to marry each other?" he confirms as she kisses him before sitting back into her chair._

 _Lifting a shoulder at him in a shrug she's looking at the ring on her finger before looking up at him. "I figure we do it the best way we do everything."_

 _"Together?"_

 _Betty smiles at him and he knows the world will always make sense as long he has her. "Together."_

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it, I'm glad. If not, well, damn why'd you even read this far then?**


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